


A Dream to Remember

by raewastaken (IWriteLove)



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: M/M, Memory Loss, breaking out of my shell its about damn time i put some mavin here, ive been too scared to put this up here for months urhg, minecraft au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-18
Updated: 2013-11-14
Packaged: 2017-12-20 13:09:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 32,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/887646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IWriteLove/pseuds/raewastaken
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michael always thought he was alone in the world. He didn't know where he came from, or why he was here, but he knew he was all alone... No past he could remember, no family who he could travel to, no friends who would probably be worried about him. Just an empty head, a clingy dog, and a whole lot of land to himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Oh god. Here we go. I've been procrastinating putting this up here for months, quite literally, and I've rewritten this like three times and I'm finally like. UGH. HAVE IT. I can't think about this anymore. Cheers to my first serious Mavin fic. :'^)

**Chapter One: Beginning**

  Michael always thought he was alone in the world. He didn't know where he came from, or why he was here, but he knew he was all alone, just some guy who woke up on a grass plain in the shade of a tree with a wolf curiously sniffing at his shoulder. No past he could remember, no family who he could travel to, no friends who would probably be worried about him. Just an empty head, a clingy dog, and a whole lot of land to himself.

  If there were other people somewhere, he'd never know, He had woken up, and made residence, in the plain with a few trees and wandering animals. He never saw anyone else, or heard anyone else, and as lonely as it was, it was life. He had his home (hastily made from wood), he had his weapons (carved from some stone under his house) and he had his dog (who he didn't plan to have, but named "Gavin" nonetheless), and as much as he craved human contact sometimes, he learned to deal. He never wandered too far from the plains, or from his house, for fear he might get lost, and found water, food and other supplies right around his camp. No problem. Michael's life was safe, was easy, and was quiet, and he kinda liked it like that.

  But there was always that emptiness in his chest that no matter what he did, it never went away. Sometimes it was subtle- he could feel it while mining or eating, but never affected him. But there were times when it was so bad that he couldn't do much except wish he could fill that gap in. His dog, Gavin, definitely did not help the situation either; the name was the first to pop in his head, but one that he had trouble saying sometimes. He felt like looking down at Gavin and saying his name just didn't feel right, like this was not Gavin, whatever that meant. There was someone else with that name. Someone he didn't know, but knew, someone who meant something to him, but didn't mean anything at all.

  It had to be the worst, however, when he dreamt.

  He called them dreams, even with as vivid and detailed as they were, and sometimes he felt like he was living in them more than thinking them up in his head, and waking up felt weird, like he was coming out of one reality and going into the next. They were always of the same thing, give or take a few details; it was always a little "city" by a lake, under the shade of tall oak trees, with five others who knew him by name, but he never knew theirs. Sometimes, he was swimming in the pool, under the hot light of the sun, smiling wide and relaxing, others he was sitting on a bed in another shelter, reading a book, or writing in one, or polishing a shimmering diamond sword that seemed so surreal. The dreams made the emptiness hurt more than anything else did, but when he dreamt of green eyes that shined in the light, and soft, sandy hair that brushed against his cheeks, and a smile that made his insides melt, that's when he woke up in tears.

  Michael Jones didn't cry- he just didn't. He knew this much about himself, with what little he did. But when he dreamt of whatever those things were, he cried, and laid in bed to sob and wonder what in the fuck that was if it could make him break down and reduce him to a sniffling, sobbing mess. He didn't understand, and figured he never would, and got to the point where he just wished he could dream of something else for once. Michael hated the dreams. He fucked despised them.

  But he knew, that his simple, quiet life had questions that he needed answers to, and he'd only find them if he felt his plain.

  He didn't know if he could bring himself to find out.

* * *

 

  The sun shined bright through his window, throwing light onto Michael's face and causing him to stir and roll over, grumbling and groaning softly. He could hear the sounds of morning birds chirping in the trees, and the zombies and skeletons burning in the daylight, and Gavin wagging his tail at the door. Michael rolled back over onto his back and ran a hand down his face, opening his brown eyes to stare up at his ceiling, blinking a few times before pulling himself to sit up, Gavin excitedly jumping up onto his bed to lick at his face. "Fuck, Gav, down boy," he said, smiling a little and pushing the excited white dog off him. "Chill out, I'll take you on a walk in a minute, let me wake the fuck up, first."

  Gavin, like he understood, jumped down and went back to the door, sitting and staring at Michael. He smiled a little more, getting up out of bed and stretching, groaning and rubbing at his side a little. "Great, I'm sore.." he mumbled to himself, walking over to his food chest to pull out some meat, making a mental note that he needed to find some more ice to stick at the bottom to keep his food from rotting. He put the meat into the furnace, then grabbed some coal out of his other chest, putting it in the bottom and lighting up the fire, yawning softly. Gavin barked happily, and he turned to glare at him. "What?" he asked, and Gavin just started wagging his tail again, panting. "Okay, fine."

  He went back into his food chest and took out a bone from a skeleton he picked up a few weeks ago, then a raw pork chop, putting the pork in Gavin's food bowl and setting the bone in front of the dog. "There." Gavin barked again and started chewing on the bone, and Michael sat down next to him, scratching behind his ear and watching him eat. "Don't finish that thing. I'm not going hunting for another one, okay?" Gavin didn't pay him any attention, and Michael scoffed, standing back up and stretching, coughing a little. "Okay, ready for a walk, Gav?" he asked, looking down at him, and Gavin's ears perked up, staring up at him. "Is that a yes?" He barked and stood up, wagging his tail and panting. "Alright, let's go." He grabbed his sword and backpack, as well as his towel, then took his breakfast out of the furnace to take with him, wrapping it up in some paper and stuffing it into his backpack. Michael put Gavin's collar on, smiling at him and opening the door, letting him run out ahead of him as he closed the door behind him, and followed the excited white dog to the pond next to his house.

  Michael's idea had been working for as long as he'd been there. Since there was only one pond, Michael took some stone and built a barrier to split it into two separate pools of water; one was for washing, and the other was drinking water and cooking water. He figured it worked well enough, because neither him, nor Gavin, had gotten sick from the water, yet and he kept clean. Gavin stopped next to the bathing pool, laying down as Michael took out a bowl from his backpack, dipping it into the drinking water and filling it to the brim, then taking it to Gavin. He took out a bottle and filled it with water, taking a drink to get rid of his dry throat, then capped it and set it down on the stone wall, stripping down to his boxers and getting into the bathing pool. The water was high enough to go up to his chest at its deepest, and after going under for a moment to get his hair wet, he felt more awake.

  Gavin was idly chewing at his bone still, and Michael just stood in the water, before sitting down in a shallower part, brushing his wet hair out of his face and staring down at his reflection on the surface. Reddish brown, curly hair, brown eyes and freckles dotting along his cheeks and nose. Nothing he hadn't seen before. He splashed more water into his face, rubbing it to clean his skin, looking up and over at the trees for a moment. Gavin didn't move, just kept chewing at his bone, and for a moment, Michael thought maybe someone would come out of the woods, someone who knew him, who could help him figure out who he was, where he came from, what he was meant to do. But there was no one, just the gentle breeze picking up the branches and making the leaves shake, and he shivered, going back under for a moment and coming back up with a sigh. His life was beyond lonely.

* * *

 

  After washing and getting some water to bring back to the house, then going back out to find a few more animals to kill, some ice to bring back, and chopping down a couple of trees to have some wood to burn, Michael sat back down in bed just as the sun was starting to set. Gavin lay down on his little makeshift blanket bed, sleeping soundlessly, and Michael stared at him for a moment before lying back, staring up at the ceiling. He could hear the zombies already starting to come out from outside his house, and the chirping of crickets in the grass, and his own, swallow breathing, heart beating in his ears. But that was it- it was just him. No one else there beside him to keep him awake with stupid rambling. Michael closed his eyes and let out a breath through his nose, before sitting up quickly to blow out the torch closest to his bed, lying back down with his face toward the wall, falling asleep almost immediately.

* * *

 

  _The cave was dark, really dark, even with the torches set up and the lantern he was carrying. He knew the path- he had walked it so many times before with the others, but this time it felt a bit more dangerous, even though they had made enough light so the zombies and skeletons wouldn't wander onto their routes to and from the surface. He had this terrible feeling in his gut like something was going to go wrong, and his mind immediately wandered back to what had happened before he left, those three simple words he wanted to hear for so long, but now just made his head spin. He needed time to think it over- he didn't mean to be so cold about it. But he didn't need to think about that now. He had work to do. They needed coal and some more iron back at camp to make some more armor and weapons, and to fuel more fire. There would be more time to think over what had happened, and possibly not fuck up his only chance. He took out his pickaxe, diamond managing to glimmer even in the faintest light, and he mined up more coal, putting it away in his backpack before turning to go down another path, only to stop and stare into darkness._

_It was the route they were still working on, because there was currently a threat with some lava that needed to be taken care of before anyone was really allowed to explore that area. He bit his lip and decided to take the chance, walking down the unlit path and holding his lantern out in front of him, putting away his pickaxe in exchange for his sword, holding it tight and ready in case something jumped out at him. He went down a few more levels, carefully sliding down the crude dirt paths, before running almost full on into diamond ore, his eyes lighting up. This is what they needed- diamond! His heart started racing as he imagined their faces when he brought back enough diamond for a dozen swords, and began mining, his mind all caught up in the excitement._

_He didn't hear the "sssss" until it was too late. He turned to shield himself from the blast, only for the explosion to go off a foot away, knocking him back into the wall and unconscious._

* * *

 

  Michael woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavy and sitting up straight, eyes wide and hair sticking to his forehead. His heart was pounding in his chest, and his hands shaking as he reached up to wipe back his red curls, eyes shutting and breathing shaky. Oh god, another dream. Another fucking dream. Just a fucking dream. A really vivid, life-like dream, but just a dream. He wasn't dead, he was alive. And that Creeper was not there. Wasn't there. Wasn't there. Michael let his eyes open again, still panting softly, mind racing and that empty feeling in chest creeping back up on him. That felt too fucking real to be a goddamn dream, and if his entire body trembling on his bed wasn't enough, then Michael assumed that nothing would ever be.

  He looked outside, only to see it was still dark outside, and Gavin was sleeping soundly next to the door, sort snores and grunts coming from him. Michael ran a hand down his face and laid back down, willing himself to calm down enough to fall back asleep, and not run right outside to find answers to these dreams. His head hit the pillow, and what felt like an eternity of thoughts and emotions went by before Michael was finally falling back asleep, a soft voice whispering those three words to him before he fell back asleep.


	2. Oxygéne

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow ;; thank you everyone who's left kudos and comments and bookmarked this story I honestly didn't think anyone would like this ahhh

**Chapter Two: Oxygéne**

  After a few days, he was out of coal.

  Michael stuffed the last of the wooden sticks into the furnace to cook his breakfast, huffing and looking back at Gavin, still chewing happily at the bone he had been given a few days before. Michael's stomach growled, and he checked on the pork chop in the oven. He'd have to go out and mine coal today, even though he felt awful, too tired and his head was pounding obnoxiously under his temples. He needed the coal, because the wood burned too fast to cook anything, and the number of trees around his house was dwindling since he wasn't planting them fast enough. Michael picked up his pickaxe and his backpack, then took his cooked meat out of the furnace. Gavin's ears perked up, but Michael shook his head and scratched behind his ears. "No, stay home today. I have to travel a bit farther today than usual. Don't want you to get lost, buddy." The white dog let out a sad whimper and ducked his head, and Michael left without another word.

  The sun was already directly overhead, bright and hot, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The wind picked up and rustled the trees a bit, making Michael's hair fly into his eyes, but he quickly tucked it under his favorite beanie and kept going. His eyes were burning from a mixture of sunshine and the lack of sleep from the night before, and he yawned, rubbing them to hopefully solve a bit of his dilemma. The dreams were more often now, and even if he woke up and fell back asleep, he'd still dream of that city, of those nameless people, of that one smile...

  Last night, he dreamt of a midnight sky, of the sound of crickets, and a gentle spring breeze, and of short, clipped sentences, quiet voices, and ultimately of green eyes staring back at his. He had woken up with a name muttered on his lips and tears in his eyes.

  Michael brushed off the dreams and continued his way to the mine nearby, but took a shortcut across the field. He wanted to get enough to last the rest of the week, but didn't want to take all day with it; especially not with this pounding headache. Michael's quick run slowed down to a jog, before finally walking slowly, almost stopping in front of a large, blocky, wooden tower. He was close enough at about a yard away to see it was four separate cube blocks on top of each other, three a gold color, and the bottom one a black and purplish shade. The paint was chipping off and in places it looked like the wood was splintered from the rain, and looking at it, Michael couldn't help but to get a sense of deja vu. His head began to spin, memories were they shouldn't be, and before he could catch himself against the tower, or anything else, he was falling face first onto the ground with a hard thud.

* * *

 

_"No, no, black one on bottom, Michael!"_

_"Jesus Christ, make up your mind!"_

_"I have, and I want the black one on bottom, THEN the gold ones!"_

_"I can't put the ones on top, I'm not that tall."_

_"I'll do it!"_

_"... Dick."_

_"Shush... Okay, let's call it... The Tower of Pimps."_

_"Really..."_

_"Yes! All we have to remember is to find it, and we'll be able to get home!"_

_"Fine, whatever, G-"_

* * *

 

  When Michael finally came to, it was dark. The lantern in his backpack had fallen out and lit up, illuminating the surrounding area and keeping the monsters at bay just enough to keep Michael safe. He sat up, rubbing his head and groaning; his head was pounding even worse than earlier, and everything hurt down to his bones, his mind a mess of thoughts and whatever that dream had been. He groaned again, rubbing his temples as he stood up, grabbing his stuff and heading back home, forgetting the coal for now. How long had he been out? Poor Gavin was probably hungry back at home. He dug the clock out of his backpack and checked the time, groaning. It was almost nine. He had left about ten this morning, meaning he was out and gone for about eleven hours. Gavin was surely freaking out by now.

  He came up on the lit plain of his house, head ducked as he rubbed the back of his neck to work the kinks out, looking up as a shadow passed in front of his window, and he froze. It moved too quick to be a skeleton or a zombie, and too tall to be a spider. It looked almost green, so maybe a Creeper? Michael pulled his sword out, squeezing the hilt and blowing out his lantern. He ducked low enough and walked slowly, quietly, seeing the figure moving around the window and he could hear Gavin barking from the inside. He narrowed his eyes and raised his weapon as the green figure turned, revealing not a Creeper face, but a normal, human face, green eyes vibrant, even in the darkness, and a scared, terrified look quickly being replaced by relief. "Oh my Go-"

  Michael didn't ask questions before jumping the person, tackling them to the ground and wrestling them enough to get the blade against their throat, glaring at them and ignoring how they stuttered out questions. By the voice, Michael assumed it was a boy, and his assumptions were proved right as the person looked right up at him. "Who are you and what do you want?" he said, voice stern and he held the blade closer, seeing the edge prick at the skin a bit.

  "N-No, look, I-" the boy stuttered, before stopping, voice trailing off as his eyes went wider. "M-Michael?"

  His grip faltered. How did he know his name? "What are you doing here?" he asked, but his tone wavered and didn't sound as sure. He didn't know any other humans, and this was the first time he had seen one since waking up here six months ago. How did he know who he was? "Did you steal anything?"

  "No, I-I didn't, I- I saw the house and was investigating b-but your dog wouldn't stop barking..." the boy trailed off again, and his British accent became suddenly very obvious to Michael. "W-Why would I steal from you anyway... A-And what are you doing out here?"

  Those eyes looked so familiar, and they made his head spin. He had seen them somewhere... "This is my home. And I want you to leave. I live alone. And I don't want to see you around here anymore. Go." He got up off the boy and glared down at him, and the green-eyed Brit stumbled up, staring at him for a moment, before turning and taking off the other way. Michael glared and watched him go, hand shaking against his sword's hilt, and his knees felt weak under him, and for a moment he felt like he was going to collapse as the realization set in.

  That was the boy from his dreams.

* * *

 

_The wheat fields behind the rose garden was his favorite place to hide away when he was upset about something, and he didn't find now any different. The stalks grew up to six feet, so trying to find him was going to be difficult, but for whatever reason, he found him without a problem. He was tucked away in a small clearing with his lantern and diamond sword, laying on his back and staring up at the sky, face blank. "What are you doing out here?"_  
  
  "I could ask you the same thing..." he said, brown eyes staring down at him, before sighing and sitting next to him, looking over at him. "What's wrong?"

_"Nothing's wrong," the green eyed Brit said, scrunching his nose up and frowning. "Why do you always assume something's wrong?"_

_"Because when you're out here, there's always something wrong."_

_"That's not true."_  
  
  "Yes it is."

_"Fine."_

_"Look-" he stopped as those green eyes looked over at him, meeting his brown eyes and he felt his heart freeze and entire body melt. "I'm sorry, but... I didn't mean to do that, you know... I know I'm kind of a heartless bastard..."_

_"No you're not."_

_The words hung heavy in the air for a moment, and he bit his lip and moved his brown eyes away before he cracked, voice caught in his throat with his breath for a moment, before sighing. "I'm still sorry. Princeton was your special sheep and I-"_

_"It's okay."_

_He looked over at him again, to see a huge shit-eating grin on his face and green eyes shining under the red sunset light, a laugh bubbling up. "I'll just get more purple dye and dye another sheep. You're such a silly donut."_

_"Oh fuck you dude."_

 


	3. Key

**Chapter Three: Key**

  After that boy had appeared, then disappeared out of his life as fast as he had come, Michael was left wondering just who was out there. There was no way they were the only two in this world, and there had to be others... He had always assumed he was alone, but now that he knew there was someone else, he didn't know what to do. Michael was a mess now, wondering constantly about how far away he was, how many people there were, if there were towns, and Gavin didn't seem any better than him, now just sleeping and picking at his food sometimes. He had to stand up in the morning and brush it off enough to get something done, but at night, the thoughts kept him up, and he didn't sleep.

  It was unnerving the fact that he felt like he knew that boy... He didn't look much older than Michael, if younger. He looked anywhere between eighteen and twenty, and Michael only assumed he was the same age as him, twenty. What was more unnerving was the fact he knew his name, and Michael knew that was no slip of the tongue or lucky guess. That green-eyed British boy knew his name, and said it in such a way that made his head spin, and he knew, just knew, that he had dreamt of him, of those eyes and that voice. But what was his name?

  Michael swung again at the tree trunk, groaning and moving far enough away as the tree fell, letting out a huff, looking up at the sky with a frown. It looked ready to rain, and there were storm clouds rumbling overhead, making him frown and go back to the trunk, cutting it up in pieces small enough to carry. If he didn't hurry, it would get dark enough for the zombies and skeletons to wander out, and he'd have a mess to deal with; he didn't bring his sword with him, figuring he could get from the forest to his house fast enough with and without wood, but it had taken him a while to find a tree that didn't have rotted wood, and when he did, he was deep into the forest. He picked up a chunk of the wood and stuffed it into his backpack, then grabbed his axe as soon as he felt rain hit the top of his head, mumbling curses under his breath.

  He could already hear the skeletons and zombies coming out of hiding, and he all but started running home, mumbling louder and louder until he was drowned out by the pouring rain and the thunder. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" he yelled, panting and dodging the trees the best he could, true panic setting in. He was just in sight of his house now, and as soon as a huge grin broke out, his foot caught on the root of a tree, sending him face-first into the muddy ground beneath him. His sight spun in front of his eyes as he tried to get up. If he didn't hurry he-

  The first arrow barely missed his shoulder, but the second hit his side enough to send him down on his knees again, vision still a mess from the impact, and he grabbed his side, only to have another arrow hit his thigh, and the last hitting his shoulder. Michael let out a choked sound, looking up enough to see the light inside his house through the windows, blood running down his leg and arm as he collapsed onto the ground, rain pattering on his axe and soaking into his shirt. _'Don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes,'_ he told himself as his eyes slipped closed, and he heard footsteps on the grass, a clattering of bones and a surprised yell, then his vision and mind went black.

* * *

 

_"All I'm saying is, you should go for it."_

_He went quiet, letting the words soak into his dense head, eyes watching over the fields instead of his companion. "Yeah...?" he finally said, voice quiet. "You think I should fuck it up...?"_

_"You won't be fucking it up, Michael," the other boy said, looking over at him. "I mean, maybe you're dense as shit, but I'm not, and he feels the same, dude. Even ask J---."_

_"I think you're just fucking with me," he snapped, face contorted into a glare. "He doesn't, R--, he can't."_

_He felt a pat on the back and heard a sigh. "You won't ever know unless you try."_

* * *

 

  Michael's brain was slow to come to, small audible details coming to him first- he could hear the rustle of trees outside, the chirp of birds and a quiet shuffling nearby. He opened his eyes to blurry, spinning vision before groaning, trying to move over, his side lighting up with pain, and he laid his hand on it, vision coming into amazing clarity as he stared up at a ceiling that could not be his own. The bed under him was too soft, and the room was too warm and inviting, his head pounding from the light streaming through the open curtains next to him. Where in the hell was he? He carefully got up out of bed, standing on very shaky legs and making his way over to the door, groaning with every step. His thigh hurt from that arrow, as did his side and shoulder. But who patched him up and found him? And where did he end up being drug back to?

  He stopped at a mirror, staring at himself and the bruises on his forehead, the blood soaked bandages wrapped around his shoulder, chest and side, and he could safely assume that there were bandages around his thigh, too. But it was his face, how absolutely calm he looked in this house, even if every part of his body was panicking and telling him to run, he didn't feel deep down like that was necessary. He looked like he belonged here, in a sense, and his brown eyes darted to the side when the door opened and the green eyed boy from almost a week ago now, walked in, stopping dead in his tracks at the sight of Michael. Michael turned to look at him, and the Brit's face changed from shock to happiness to pain in almost a second. "You're awake," he said happily, putting on a smile and blushing. "I, uh, just came in here to..." He held up some cooked pork and offered a nervous laugh. "I didn't realize you'd-"

  "Where am I?"

  The boy's face fell a little but he kept it up enough to try and fool Michael. "Oh, uh, I brought you back to my camp, where my friends and I stay..." he said, smiling and walking over to Michael. He had on a green hoodie made from Creeper skin and his sandy hair was messy as could be, sticking up in places where hair shouldn't have been sticking up. But his green eyes were sparkling and shining, a smile on his face. "I found you hurt in the forest during that rain storm a few days ago and I-"

  "What were you doing there? And it's been a few days?" he asked, giving the boy a look. A few days? God he was out for that long? There was no way anything at his house was salvageable by now, and poor Gavin must have been fucking starving. "Actually, no, look, I gotta get home. I have a dog, and he's fucking alone there and I didn't leave him any food out for him to eat."

  He shook his head. "You can't leave," he said. "Your injuries are horrible. A-And I can send someone out to feed your dog! It'll be okay, Michael."

  Their eyes met at that. There it was again. He knew his name, but he never once gave it to him. The boy quickly backtracked and started to explain in his increasingly annoying ('charming') British accent that he was pretty sure that was his name because there was some sort of sign back near his house, so he had guessed, although Michael had never once put up a sign anywhere that said his name on it. But he let him think that. "And, uh, you've been out for a few days, now, like I said before. You were out cold. I had to change your bandages a few times. I was around your house looking for wood and materials, and happened to find you after you were shot by that skeleton. I'm glad I was able to save you before a zombie got to you."

  Michael put a gentle hand on his side and made a soft scoffing noise. "Yeah," he mumbled, looking down for a moment before looking back up at the boy. "But, look, I really do need to get back home. So if you could kindly guide me out of this clusterfuck you've thrown me into, that'd be great."

  The boy's face fell, but this time, he didn't pick it back up with a smile. "Oh... Y-Yeah. Um, I'll give you some extra bandages so you can treat those wounds, and some medicine, so they don't get infected..." he said, setting the pork onto the bookshelf next to the door, then digging through the messenger bag he had for whatever he was talking about. "And, uh, Ray and I can walk you back to your house, I guess..." he murmured to himself, sounding really hurt. "Is, uh, that okay?"

  "Better than nothing," Michael snapped a little, and the brunette deflated even more. "Where's my shirt?"

  "I had to rip it to, uh, get at your wounds, but there should be an extra shirt in the chest," he said quickly, setting down the bandages and medicine next to the pork chop on the shelf. "I should go talk to Ray, I'll talk to you later." And with that, he was gone, voice cracking at the end, before he ran out of the room and out of the house.

_'Fuck.'_

* * *

 

  After getting dressed and getting the stuff he knew he'd need, Michael found his way out of the house and outside, where the sun was still in the sky, but slowly sinking down behind the mountain range. He kept his eyes fixated on that for a moment, before looking away quickly at the same sandy haired boy walking up to him, his cheeks looking tear stained but smile large. "You ready to head back?"

  Michael went to nod, looking over to see another man standing at the house in front of the mountain range, arms crossed and face serious, and he shrunk away a bit. Who in the world was that? "Yeah. I'm ready. Whenever you are."

  "Ah, I was just waiting for Ray to come out of his house, and then we'll be off," he said with a nod, situating his backpack as a brunette boy probably around their age walked up, carrying a diamond sword and smiling at the green eyed boy. "Ah, Ray!"

  Ray did a little head nod. "Yo," then looked over at Michael, his eyes questioning before he signed softly and looked toward the forest. "Alright, you said you found him back that way, right? Let's go that way."

  The sandy haired boy nodded and jogged off in front of them, and Michael followed after Ray, holding his side and gritting his teeth. Goddamn those arrows fucking hurt. Ray moved up to walk by their companion and said a few words to him, his voice hushed and brown hair blowing barely in the wind. He looked back at Michael, his chocolate eyes watching him behind his glasses, before turning back to the other boy, continuing to mumble words to him. "Look, I just... Why are we-"

  "Because, Ray, he doesn't..." Michael couldn't hear what he said after that, and he strained to hear a bit better. Why were they talking about him? "And Geoff said that-"

  "Just because Geoff's got a God complex doesn't mean we have to listen to him," Ray said, voice kind of snappy. "I'm just saying... Will you be, okay... Letting him go like this?"

  The sandy haired boy looked back at Michael, just as he could see his own house in the distance, and sighed, nodding and looking down, pulling up the hood on his hoodie. "I'll be fine, Ray. Just leave me alone."

  They got to his house just as the sky got dark and stars started coming out, crickets chirping all around in the tall grass. Ray gave a look to his hooded companion who offered a wave before turning to walk away, and Michael watched him, his heart screaming at him to stop him before he was out of sight.

_'No, G----, please!'_

  "I'm sorry about all this," he apologized to Ray, and all he got was a shrug. "But... he never told me his name... What was it...?"

  Ray stared straight up, starting to take steps back to follow after his friend, his look pained and hurt and disappointed, but Michael didn't know why. "Gavin... His name is Gavin..." he told him a choked voice before turning and running after him, leaving Michael to stand in the soft light of the torches still burning with his head spinning at that simple five letter name.

_Gavin._

 


	4. Équinoxe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> big thank you to [ astralthatcher ](http://archiveofourown.org/users/AstralThatcher/pseuds/AstralThatcher) for proof-reading this chapter for me, then demanding i finish chapter five. what a good best friend :^)

**Chapter Four: Équinoxe**

  Michael wasn't sure how many days it had been since he came back, they had all seemed to run together. He didn't do much, aside from think about Gavin and eat when his stomach growled loud enough. His dog was gone when he got home, and all that was left was the bone he was still chewing at when he had left to go get wood. If he thought he was alone before, now he was really alone, just sitting in his bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering how long it'd be until he finally broke and went to go to back to Ray and Gavin.

  Gavin.

  The name sent his head in a spin, when it never did before. Before it made his heart hurt, and now he was just confused, being able to put a name to the face that he had seen so many times in his dreams, finally seeing him in front of him, how... absolutely hurt he looked. Michael wasn't sure what had been wrong with him, but when he saw that absolutely hurt expression on Gavin's face, he just wanted to hold him, tell him that it was okay, that he was there, but he didn't know /why/. He didn't know Gavin, even though he felt like he did, but he felt like he needed to protect him with everything he had, no matter what it took. And if that look on Gavin's face was anything, then whatever Michael had felt, he had felt, too, but probably a lot clearer.

  This just made his head hurt. He didn't understand anything, especially not with this cheeky British bastard in the picture. And after so long being alone, going to be with Gavin and Ray and whoever else they were with there sounded incredible, now that he knew they were there.

  He grabbed his backpack, stuffing a few things into it and throwing it onto his back, before grabbing his sword and lantern, looking out the window to the dark forest around him, sighing softly and holding his sword's hilt tightly. "Fuck this place," he muttered to himself before throwing open the door and walking out.

* * *

  


  It's been four days since Ray and Gavin came back to Achievement City, Ray a bit shaken, but otherwise okay, and Gavin in tears, shaking and yelling at Ray that they shouldn't have left him there, that they should have talked him into coming back with them. Ray had stood to take the onslaught before Geoff came storming out of his house and blown up at Gavin, but that was four days ago. Whatever had been stirred up and exploded between Gavin and Geoff that night was still lingering, because Gavin hadn't come out of his house since, and Geoff occasionally could be heard throwing something at a wall or cursing.

  That night, however, was silent. Ray leaned up against a tree just outside of the perimeter of Achievement City, Ryan next to him sitting on a stump with his bow, desperately trying to restring it, while the younger of the two just stared into space, more or less watching the forest, his sword next to him. He was worried about Gavin, if he were honest. Gavin was his best friend, and he felt some sort of obligation to watch after him now that Michael wasn't around to do so, and it's been months since he had seen Gavin retreat and sink back into a ball like he did when Geoff blew up at him. He knew the eldest was trying to look after him, Gavin being like his son, and he knew that Geoff didn't want to see Gavin so broken like he was that night when Ryan came back from the mines with nothing to show of Michael but his bear beanie. None of them wanted to see Gavin like that again, doing nothing but staring at Michael's house with a blank, broken expression on his face, the hat curled into his hand and tear stains still wet on his cheeks.

  "So. What Geoff said that night..." Ryan began, his voice nearly scaring Ray out of his thoughts. "Does Michael really not remember?"

  The question is one Ray's sure Ryan's wanted to ask for days now. Jack's already bugged him about it, gotten his answer, and moved on, but Ryan's always been the quieter one with his curiosity. "He really doesn't. Michael asked me, right before I turned to catch up with Gavin, what his name was... I was sure Gavin heard, too. I was a bit choked up, in all honesty..."

  "Anyone would be," Ryan said, snapping the string back onto his bow with a soft curse. "I just... after all that time, he was right there, and we never knew... All that time, we thought he was-... I just wonder how he lost his memories, how he got out of that cave... It must have been the work of some kind of miracle."

  "Yeah," he agreed with him, looking up to watch a zombie try, and fail, to get close enough to attack, stopping just on the outskirts of the light from the torches. He could hear Jack doing something in the melon garden, and a quiet crash from Geoff's house, then everything was quiet again. "It's relieving to know he's okay."

  Ryan nodded, looking over his bow, and Ray dropped his eyes to watch him, before the 'thunk' of a body hitting the grass startled him, making him stand up straight and grab his sword from next to him, staring into the darkness of the forest. Before he could really react, there was a very human curse, and Michael was stumbling out from among the trees, carrying his blood-stained stone sword and wiping something off his cheek with a huff. "Motherfuckers."

  "Are you-"

  Michael's eyes wandered up to Ray, staring at him with a look of mild disbelief and a small hint of "I know you" somewhere in those light brown eyes. But he smiled instead of using words to clarify that feeling Ray saw in his eyes. "Got room for one more?"

* * *

  


  The sunlight was too fucking bright.

  Michael groaned and rolled over in bed, opening his eyes to look across the room at the chest against the wall, the light filtering through the curtains over his window and casting warm rays across the bandages on his shoulder. He moved a hand up to rub his eyes before sitting up, moving his hand down to hold his side as he did, moaning softly in pain and sighing. What was he thinking last night? Coming back here, leaving whatever he had in his house back in the forest. What if they had turned him down? Told him no, he had his chance and he had blew it? Then what would he have done? Gone back to his shack and lived the rest of his life out all alone?

  Like he really needed to be thinking about that right now. Michael got up from bed and grabbed a clean shirt from on top of his bookcase, slipping into it and walking out of his room, looking around the rest of his house better this time. There was a small living room with more bookcases and another chest, then across the hallway exit was a crafting table, furnace and a chest with a crudely written "food" on the top. Michael frowned and put a hand on the lid, tracing the letters, looking down at his handwriting with a hum, before looking away and going out the front door.

  The first thing he saw was the courtyard area- there was a giant design on the ground, stone painted black and white and green, and he wondered momentarily when the last time it was painted from the flaking chips. Michael looked across the courtyard to see a two story house next to a pin of animals, and someone with red hair and a beard tending to the cows and sheep. He walked out to the center to do a quick spin to look at everything around him, noting the mountains behind the two story house and the forest, as well as the wild wheat field behind one of the houses next to him. He was in mid-spin when his eyes caught sight of sandy hair and green eyes watching him, hand tightening on the sword he was holding- diamond, shimmering in the sunlight- and his lips formed a small smile. Gavin put the sword into his sheath against his back, jogging toward Michael with a ridiculously large grin, eyes wide and hopeful. "Michael!" he cheered, only for his face to fall when he noted the confused look on the red-head's face, his jog slowing to a walk and the bearded man looking up from his place in the animal pin. "I... Do you remember anything?"

  The way Gavin asked sent what felt like a knife through Michael's heart, just the hurt tone in his voice was enough to make him feel bad for whatever he had done wrong. But what had he done? What had he forgotten? He shook his head, looking into Gavin's eyes and seeing whatever light had been there fade away slowly, before the Brit shuffled his feet against the ground, kicking up more paint chips. "Figured not..." he murmured, before excusing himself and walking off toward a pathway through a thin forest, head bowed and steps quick. Michael watched him go before a hand on his shoulder made him turn, facing Ray with a confused face.

  "Hey. Let me show you around so you aren't hopelessly lost later, bro."

  Ray did just that- showed Michael around. The courtyard, as he found out, was indeed the center of the city. Ray said if they could get up into the mountains, the stone under their feet would be painted in the shape of a star, a symbol Geoff had always stuck with, apparently. He said at the point of the star was Geoff's house, which was the one in front of the mountains. To the right of Geoff's house was Jack's, and in between their houses was the animal pin. Jack, apparently, was the red headed one with a beard who Michael had seen earlier, and after being introduced, Ray continued on. Next to Jack's house on the left was a melon farm, then Ray's house, which stood in front of the huge wild wheat field. He also bragged a lot about his rose garden out back, and told Michael that since he was still techincally injured, he should help him after this little tour. Next to Ray's house was Michael's, with a little well inbetween with a couple of buckets sitting empty next to the cobblestone structure. Next to Michael's house was Gavin's, mostly made of stone where the other's had wood, and in between their houses was a little watch tower next to a tall oak tree, one that Michael stared at a bit longer than necessary, before Ray was pulling him along. Gavin's house was right next to Ryan's, and then it was Geoff's, completing the circle. There was a sugar cane and wheat field that Ray pointed out right next to the watch tower, and the path to the mine that dug into the mountain, then on the other side was a pathway to the lake between the trees, and, of course, the real forest that was behind Michael's house, that went on seemingly for miles.

  The only thing Ray touched on that Michael was confused about was the other side of the mountains behind Geoff's house, or the "outlands" as he had called them. Ray didn't go into much detail, leaving Michael curious and looking for more answers, but was interrupted as another man came out of the two story house that Ray had called Geoff's, running a hand through his short, brunette hair and looking over at them. "Hey Ray. Showing Michael around?" he asked, a smile spreading over his face. He had a bow attached to his back, along with a quiver full of arrows, and he looked friendly and quickly introduced himself to Michael as Ryan, leaving the infamous Geoff to meet him.

  "Yeah. Just giving him a quick layout so he doesn't get turned around and accidentally knock on Geoff's door in the middle of the night instead of Gavin's or something," Ray told him, smiling spreading over his face. "What are you up to?"

  "I was supposed to be going hunting with Gavin, but... I can't find him. Maybe he's still sleeping?" Ryan asked, shrugging.

  Michael got Ryan's attention. "Ah, he left earlier. A couple of hours ago. With a sword and he didn't say where he was going, but... I guess he left without you?" he offered with a small shrug.

  "Dammit. Alright. Well, you two have fun with whatever you're going to do," he said, walking off with a wave and Ray waved back, before pulling Michael toward his house and telling him he was dead serious about him helping. 

* * *

  


  A few hours later, and enough pricks from thrones to warrant angry cursing and yelling from Michael, Ray's rose garden was successfully tidied up and taken care of. The sun was just starting to set, setting the sky on fire with red and oranges and yellows, and just as Michael was heading back to his house to get washed up and get some food in his empty stomach, there was a rustle from the forest, making him peak around the corner to watch as Gavin came stumbling into the soft light of the city, covered in swamp water and cursing about Creepers and those fucking assholes. Ray had come over to investigate, along with Jack and Ryan, all three of them almost doting on the muck-covered Brit. Michael, however, couldn't stop laughing, holding his sides and breathing out nonsense between gasps of air and laughter. Where Gavin had looked irritated, his face shifted to one of utter happiness, and even started laughing, too, smiling and wiping some of the water onto Jack and Ryan before making a dash for his house to clean up.

  As they sat watch that night, Gavin explaining in detail his adventures today, and Michael listening quietly, leaning up against the oak tree while Gavin picked at flowers and arranged them into a crown, he couldn't help but to feel this eerie sense of familiarity in his surroundings, of deja vu and the fact that he's lived this moment before in his life. He glanced down at Gavin, at his sandy hair and pink cheeks from the lack of air at his non-stop chatting, and his heart skipped a beat.

  Something about this place was the answers to his dreams. Only question was, when would he get the truth?


	5. Dry Hands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have up to chapter seven written at this point and im about to start eight pull me away from this story

**Chapter Five: Dry Hands**

 

_"How many other villages do you think there are out there?"_

_The question threw him off guard for a moment. The night was quiet and cool, a pleasant change from how hot it had been earlier, and there were stars freckling the dark night sky, the moon throwing just enough light onto them to where he could see the outlines of his face, where his hair fell, the sparkle in his eyes and the smile on his lips. He stared at him for a moment before looking back up at the sky, shrugging. The stone against his back was starting to hurt, but they had gotten kicked out of the courtyard, and only his house was low enough to climb onto. And it made seeing the stars like this much easier, being up a little more and away from the light of the torches._

_"I dunno. A few."_

_The answer is enough to warrant another huge smile from the green-eyed boy, and he looks over at him, eyes wide and bright. "Do you think anyone else will ever want to move here? To Achievement City?"_

_He snorted. Of course. "Maybe. I don't know. We're not exactly the easiest place to get to, if you haven't noticed."_

_"Well, yeah, but... That'd be so cool. To meet people from other parts of this world... I wonder if there's anyone from the same place I came from..." he thought aloud, eyes going back up to the sky. His own eyes traced over constellations, quietly spelling out the name of the boy next to him against he sky, only to feel slender fingers sliding into his and a familiar warmth spread over him very slowly._

_"But you'll always be my boy."_

_He smiled at that, cheeks turning a bit pink (even though he'd deny it) and he tangled his fingers into his._

_"You'll always be my boy, too."_

* * *

 

  Achievement City wasn't all that bad, in reality. A little weird, considering its position and the people living in it, but when Michael looked past that, he didn't completely hate it there, and it was much better than his old home. Days had passed, and each day, he felt that emptiness and loneliness that had been building up for months slowly start to vanish, even though that pang of pain still crossed him a bit when he looked at Gavin, although he learned to stop asking himself why. His dreams had started to become a bit clearer, if that was even possible, and where names had been blanks in his head, they were slowly starting to take sounds and form words, leading him to question how this little village could possibly be tied to his dreams in any way.

  Ray proved to be more than helpful, considering Michael's still healing wounds and his constantly state of being turned around. If Gavin wasn't around to help, the sandy haired teen usually on some kind of mining job, Ray was, and he soon became a friend, taking Michael on quick mining missions and giving him someone to talk to, even if some of it was a bit nonsensical, and mostly really confusing.

   According to the shorter boy, Geoff was the founder, and the oldest, at thirty-two. Gavin was the first one to stumble in from somewhere east, and he was nineteen. Jack was twenty-five, and the second member, followed by himself, Ray, eighteen, then Ryan, twenty-seven. Ray, however, seemed to hesitate between Jack and himself, and a part of Michael didn't like hearing that hesitation in his voice.

  _"It was you."_

  Michael's throat constricted at that voice. What? It was him? He shook it off and offered Ray a smile, and Ray continued on chatting, and Michael attempted to forget that voice.

  After his near week in Achievement City, he had never once seen Geoff out of his house. Ray said he was a bit peeved about something that had happened before he had come to stay, and was just cooling off a bit more than necessary, and Michael didn't dwell on it. But as they entered into the city, Ray waving to Jack and holding up his backpack, which was heavy with coal, the door to Geoff's house opened and he came out, dark brown hair messy and a frown on his face, eyes catching sight of Michael and going wide. "What the fuck?" he asked, walking over to them and making Michael take a step back, his head spinning just seeing the older man.

  "What is he doing back here? I thought you and Gavin took him back to his house?" he asked Ray, stealing glances at Michael every second or two, and he wasn't sure if that look was of anger or of confusion. Geoff wasn't an easy book to read.

  Ray shrugged. "We did and he came back. No harm done," he said simply, then moved a bit closer to Geoff to whisper something to him, before frowning at him, and Geoff's eyes snapped over to Michael's. "Yeah. I wish I was kidding. For all of us."

  Geoff sighed, rubbing the back of his neck and groaning. "Okay, well. I'm Geoff. I'm more or less the boss around here. Welcome to Achievement City. Just don't burn down anything like Gavin likes to do, for fuck's sake." The comment warranted an angry yell from somewhere across the courtyard, and the older man turned to go back to his house, before pausing and turning again. "By the way, meeting at my house tonight after y'all eat and shit. Don't be fucking late, asshats."

* * *

 

  Geoff wasn't kidding about the meeting, apparently, and after they had all cleaned up and eaten, all five of them headed over to Geoff's, Ray and Ryan looking a bit more confident than Gavin's curiosity and Jack's confusion. Michael, however, didn't know how to feel about this- he just kind of followed the leader, in a sense, and since Geoff seemed nicer when you were on his good side, he planned to stay that way, no matter what he had to do. Geoff's house was two story, and downstairs there was a living room with a small table in the center and a cushioned bench and a few chairs, like they had been here to this exact thing before. Geoff was already sitting on the bench, looking over papers scattered across the tabletop, looking up to watch them come in, Gavin and Michael taking a seat together, Ryan and Jack sitting in the chairs and Ray opting for sitting up on the counter that technically belonged in the kitchen.

  "Alright, what's this about, Geoff?" Jack asked, straight to the point and watching his friend closely.

  Michael looked down at the papers as Geoff started shuffling them around. There were crude drawings of frames and sketches of dragons, as well as notes in chicken scratch that Michael couldn't read for the life of him. Geoff tapped a paper Michael wasn't able to catch sight of, which had a square frame with eyes drawn on the blocks, his face serious. "The End portal," he spoke, and the room went silent. "And how we're going to get to it."

  "You realize how dangerous that is, right?" Ryan said, shaking his head. "The End portal? That's the stuff we've only heard about in passing. It's a rumor, a myth, a legend. It's-"

  Geoff just passed Ryan another paper, shaking his head. "It's fucking real, okay? They say there are strongholds from ancient civilizations, who used to live underground and never saw the sun. There are books filled with the writing and the culture, and in their books, they talked about an ancient dragon who possessed infinite wisdom, and whoever could slay it would become all knowing in the ways of survival, and could forge better weapons, create better armor, brew better potions. It was almost like a religion to them.

  "The portals led to a place the called "The End", where the dragon they called the Enderdragon slept for all of time, waiting for the heroes of legend of destroy it and take it's egg, and knowledge, back to the Overworld. They said the frame took Eyes of Ender, which they never figured out how to make, so the portal and the frame, and the culture became more of a legend that a history lesson you learned in class. But there was a mistake they overlooked..."

  Geoff rustled around with the papers before picking up a few and laying them on top of the others, smiling at the group. "This was an ancient civilization that lived underground, and never saw the Overworld. The things they needed for the Eyes of Ender, which are made from Ender Pearls and Blaze Powder, one of which you can find in the Nether, and the other that is-"

  "Dropped by Enderman when you kill them, yes, Geoff we know," Ryan said, shaking his head. "But you can't be serious about us doing this. We don't have blaze powder, and the last trip we made to the Nether was a disaster, and so we tore down our portal, and I can't remember where we put the obsidian for it. This is dangerous, if anything else. We're chasing after something that is more of a legend that fact, and this could get us seriously hurt."

  "I'm willing to take that chance if it means better knowledge in forging, crafting and brewing, if it means a chance at protecting ourselves better than we are. We're doing fine now, sure, but what happens when the zombies and skeletons adapt to our torch light, or the spiders start hanging around the city, or Creepers get into the city itself?" Geoff asked, voice rising. "I'm willing to risk a bit of safety now for safety in the future, Ryan. If you're not for it, than you don't have to do anything, but don't expect a share of any deal."

  The room was silent, before Jack reached over and tapped the papers. "Tell us what we need to do."

  Geoff watched the bearded man before nodding. "We need diamond. Enough for weapons, armor, tools, anything that might come in handy. We need to make another Nether portal to go into a fortress and kill Blazes for the rods to make powder. Someone needs to go out and find Enderman and kill them for the Ender Pearls, and bring them back. We need potions, supplies, anything that could come in handy for the battle with the Enderdragon... Is everyone in?"

  A beat passed before Ray raised his hand, followed by a wary Gavin and Michael, and when Jack offered his support, Ryan nodded and looked over the papers. "Alright. I need scouts to go out to the mines and start searching for a stronghold. Someone else needs to start brewing potions, and two people need to go mine for anything we might need. I'll cross reference notes and start looking for that obsidian. Are we all good?"

  Everyone nodded and Geoff waved them away. "Good. Now get the fuck out of my house."

* * *

 

  That night, as Michael lay in bed, thinking about all Geoff told them, the End Portal, the promise he and Gavin had made to go stronghold hunting, a feeling sunk in his gut, a feeling that made his stomach churn and body be overcome with fear.

  Something bad was going to happen.

* * *

 

  Michael and Gavin got started early the next morning, right as the sun started rising and the sky was a purple color, stars starting to burn out. Jack and Ryan were rustling around in the gardens, and Ray came out not too long after, walking out carrying some mining gear and yawning loudly, stretching and waving at the two of them. "Hey. You guys getting an early start at the mines, too?" he asked, smiling at them.

  "Yup!" Gavin said cheerfully, smiling back at Ray and making Michael wonder how he can be so chipper this early. "We're going stronghold hunting. You and Ryan are getting diamonds and what not, right?" he asked, getting a nod. "Ah, okay. Hopefully we don't cross paths much, then?"

  "Hopefully not. I'd prefer not to get myself lost down there. You and Geoff sure do know how to make shit confusing and complex."

  The Brit laughed awkwardly when Geoff came out of his house, carrying four maps and handing one to Ryan, before coming over to Ray, Michael and Gavin, giving them each their own. "Maps for the mines. Mark where you've found anything okay? We can bring them back here later and go over where to look next."

  They nodded and once Ryan was done, the four of them walked over to the mines, only to part their separate ways once inside. Gavin and Michael followed the torches down to a spot where Gavin was sure he had seen signs of something, and Michael followed in silence, that feeling settling into his gut again.

* * *

 

  Two weeks later, and nothing.

  After that first unlucky day, Gavin and Michael had brought back enough cobblestone to build all of them bigger houses and then some, map marked to shit and barely legible, and exhausted, but with no information on the strongholds, or the End portal, at all. Geoff had told them not to give up, and to keep trying, because they were bound to find something, but it was only insult to injury when Ray and Ryan had come back with diamonds and iron galore. That awful feeling in Michael's gut didn't get any better after that, either. It seemed to get more and more awful as the days went by, and each time they came back, empty handed and tired, the worse the feeling got.

  It was only two weeks later when they found anything at all.

  Gavin had listened to Ryan's advice on following an old path they had used to mine diamonds while they were a bit deeper for gold, and him and Michael had agreed to investigate, lanterns and torches starting to run thin now. "Man, who knew this place was really this complex?" Gavin asked, holding his torch up to look down another pathway, humming and turning, Michael following. "You think we would have found something by now, yeah?"

  "Yeah, probably. This place is fucking massive. How the hell do you not get lost down here?"

  The Brit had only laughed, before gasping, the smooth stone under their feet fading into loose brick, a language Michael couldn't read sketched onto the walls with what looked like coal, and before they wrapped their heads around it, they were standing in a stronghold. His eyes wandered over everything, from the doors to the bars, to the stones, and back to Gavin, who looked starstruck. "Hey, let's split up and cover more ground. I'll keep going straight, but you turn up here, alright?"

  _"Stupid."_

  That snapped him out of it. Gavin nodded and smiled at him. "Okay. Meet back here in half an hour," he said, and Michael nodded, leaving them to part their separate ways. The feeling in Michael's stomach sunk again and he ignored it. How could anything bad happen? They had found the stronghold they've been looking for for two weeks. There was nothing to do but celebrate and hope for the best. Michael marked where he was walking on his map and stopped to glance into a random room, only for him to stop and go inside. There was a stone well full of lava, and above that, the same portal Geoff had so crudely sketched onto paper, only one or two eyes actually in the frame. He felt whatever was inside him flutter to life a bit, his excitement bubbling in his stomach and covering over that fear he had felt moments before. Oh God that was it. He had to go tell-

  Just as he thought that, there was a scream.

 


	6. Living Mice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shout out to one of my best friends for beta-ing this chapter for me!! and pointing out some things that needed to be fixed up ;u;

**Chapter Six: Living Mice**

  
  The scream seemed to echo around his ears for a moment before he completely registered it. Michael stood staring at the portal before his brain finally clicked that Gavin was down here with him, and he nearly dropped his lantern to run out of the room and back down the hall. His heart was racing with all the worst possible outcomes, of everything that could have happened. It was still pitch black and Michael couldn't see much, turning on his heels and panting. "Gavin!" he yelled, looking around and waving his lantern around as he did. "Gavin!"

  "Michael, help!"

  His stomach dropped and he ran off in the direction of the shout, panting and panicking and praying- oh God praying- that Gavin was okay, that he was okay, that he was okay. He nearly tripped turning the corner, staring into the dark hallway where Gavin's plea of help had come from, the only thing he could see being Gavin's overturned lantern and his dropped backpack. Michael choked back whatever had risen into his throat and dashed forward, getting close enough to find the sandy-haired Brit was gone, all that was left were his things and a small splatter of blood that lead nowhere. Oh no. His heart sped back up, fear running through his entire body and making him choke on his own breath. He was gone. Gavin was gone. The boy he had seen all those months in his dreams, who haunted him every night, and who had grown on him these few months he had been living in Achievement City was just... gone. He picked up Gavin's backpack and his lantern, staring at the blood splatter before turning and rushing to find the way out, his hands shaking and eyes filled with tears.

  Gone.

  And it was all his fault.

* * *

 

  Ray was more or less confused when sunset rolled around and Michael and Gavin hadn't come up from the mines. The duo was near dedicated to finding the stronghold, but he figured they would have poked their heads out about now to admit defeat and go to bed. But nothing. No Gavin cracking dumb jokes as an exhausted and short-tempered Michael told him to shut up. Just dead silence, save for the occasional moo of the farm cows and rustle of the wheat behind his house. Jack was tending to the animals while Ryan unloaded some of the stuff he and Ray had brought back, Geoff was in his house looking over notes, still, and Ray was just sitting on the low wall in front of his house, watching for Michael and Gavin.

  It was probably another hour before Michael stumbled out of the forest, carrying two backpacks and two lanterns, looking winded and panicked, his entire body shaking. Jack looked over from his spot and Ryan did the same, but it was Ray who took a dash toward him, face concerned for his shaking best friend. "Hey, what's wrong? Where's Gavin?"

  Geoff's door opened and he walked out, seeing the red-head dash into the city quickly, his eyes confused when there was no lanky sandy-haired teen with him. Michael seemed to break down at the question, hands shaking and breathing catching and quickening. "I-I don't know... We split u-up when we found the stronghold, an-and when I found th-the portal, I heard a scream and took off and I heard Gavin yell for me to help b-but when I went to go find him he was g-g-gone..." he choked out, entire body shaking now. Ray put hands on his arms to steady him, and Ryan came over to help, Jack turning as Geoff nearly charged forward, face full of rage.

  "He's WHAT?" he yelled, and Ryan nearly missed him jumping forward to grab him and hold him back, hands holding him by his arms. "Where the FUCK is he!"

  "Geoff, calm down!" Ryan yelled at him.

  Michael seemed to flinch away, a look on his face that Ray hadn't seen since he went missing. He looked scared and hurt, but mostly lost, the light that had been filling back into his face just by being home slowly fading back out. "I-I..."

  "I swear to GOD we better find him ALIVE or you're fucking LEAVING the city!" Geoff yelled, and Ryan finally tugged him back enough to get the older man to walk back to his house, the courtyard going quiet, until Ray heard quiet, soft sobs from Michael, Gavin's lantern and backpack hitting the ground and the redhead putting his hands over his face to cover up his tears.

  All Ray could do was take him by the shoulder and lead him back to his house to try and calm him down. The youngest member's house was the smallest, but Ray wasn't much for overdoing things. He didn't need a huge house like Geoff or Gavin, not even a moderate house like Jack or Ryan or Michael. His was just a small, one room house with a small bookshelf, a chest, and a furnace, and it always smelled like roses. He let Michael sit down on the edge of his bed before going to his chest and digging out some bread and a bottle of water, returning to offer them to Michael. The redhead took them without a sound, taking a piece of the bread and eating it silently, taking a drink of his water.

  "Are you going to be okay?" he asked him, softly, and Michael nodded. He didn’t say a word, though, and Ray looked at him for another moment, before down. It had been a really long time since he had seen Michael get this shaken up over Gavin. Ever since he went missing and came back memory-less, he was more level headed than before, and a bit more confused, he guessed. The last time Michael had panicked like this was when Gavin had gotten hurt by a Creeper, but that was so long ago. Ray assumed, just maybe, there had been some kind of memory that was slowly coming back, if that light that sparkled in his light brown eyes was anything to go by, and he could only hope he was right- for both Michael, and Gavin’s, sake.

 Ray had spaced out in his own thoughts, and didn’t fully realize it the first time Michael spoke. He looked over at him with a surprised face, only to have Michael look at him with a lost and confused expression, his lip quivering a bit. “I’m sorry...” he spoke quietly, his voice a shaky, uncertain sound, like his head was telling him one thing and his heart another. Ray gave him a soft look when the door opened, and Ryan looked in, smiling a little at Michael and Ray.

 “Hey, guys... We got Geoff to calm down, and him, Jack, and I talked it out... We’re going to go looking for Gavin on the other side of the mountain tomorrow,” Ryan told them, and sent an apologetic look toward Michael. “He doesn’t blame you, Michael. He was just angry... Don’t be so hard on yourself, okay?”

 And with that, the older man was gone, leaving Michael and Ray in a heavy, awkward silence. The bed shifted next to Ray and he looked up as Michael stood, determination in his face and his fists curled. “Michael...?”

 “We’re going to find him,” he said, his voice steady, and Ray’s eyes widened a bit. There was a fire in his eyes, one that seemed too hard for the redhead to have lately, but it was there, and Michael was so determined and... Ray couldn’t believe this was just on a whim- there was something in Michael’s head that was turning over the things presented to him and piecing together everything. And nothing was going to make it easier for him than Gavin. “I’m not waiting until morning, Ray. By that time, something could have happened to him, and I’m not letting that happen. Not again.”

 Ray couldn’t say no to him. It was a stupid idea, there was no doubt about that. It had to be the stupidest thing he had heard Michael say since he got back. But the fire, the determination, the “come with me or stay behind, I don’t fucking care” attitude he had was just all so overwhelming and all so... _Michael._ Ray nodded and stood with him, grabbing his sword and backpack, packing a few extra things while Michael watched for Ryan and Jack to head to their houses, before he opened the wooden door of Ray’s house and they disappeared into the night.

* * *

 

 The first thing Gavin was aware of was his head- it was pounding, throbbing under his temples and making him groan in pain. His wrists felt sore and his entire body was aching, and he tried to roll over, groaning again and getting a sharp kick to the side, sending him back down onto his back.

 “Stay still, you stupid Eastern fuck.”

 He opened his eyes, vision completely blurry before coming into focus, staring up at a hooded figure, which glared and kicked his side again at the sight of his open eyes. “Fuck. Hey, boss, he’s awake!” he called off into the distance, while Gavin lay aching, biting his tongue through the pain. Where in the hell was he? Wasn’t he in the stronghold with Michael a moment ago? What happened? He gritted his teeth as his wrists rubbed against the coarse rope again, glaring half-heartedly as a larger, hooded man walked up, kneeling down next to Gavin and chuckling.

 “So you’re the little fuck who was messin’ around near the End Portal, huh?” he asked, staring Gavin down with Gavin glowering up at him. “Well, if you were lookin’ for it, that means you’ve got the info on it, right? Let’s make a deal; we’ll let you go if you tell us what you know.”

 Gavin’s stomach dropped a little. Information on the End Portal? There was no way he could give away the city’s position like that, not to a few thugs who had kidnapped him, but he couldn’t very well just tell them what he knew, either. Geoff had worked too hard to get them where they were, and he wasn’t about to hand over that work. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just mining... I didn’t know where I was.”

 The bandit took Gavin by the front of his shirt and held him up to him, making Gavin gasp in pain as his ribs adjusted to the feeling of being moved from his original position, groaning and glaring through gritted teeth. “Don’t fucking lie to us, kid. We know what you were down there for. We know there was something else down there with you, and we know there’re probably more of you. So just cough up the fucking info and we’ll let you go... Unless you want my men to go back and find that little friend of yours...”

 “No!” Gavin said almost immediately, heart dropping and stomach sinking. There was no way he’d let anything happen to Michael, ever. Not again. Never again. “No, I-I’ll tell you...”

 That got a smile from the man, and Gavin grimaced a little. What could he tell them? He was never good at lying, much less making up shit on the spot, and he wasn’t about to tell them the truth. What did he say? “T-The End Portal is-” he had started telling them, when there was a loud crash and the man looked away, dropping Gavin again and leaving him to groan in pain on the floor.

  “What was that? Go check it,” he ordered, glaring back down on Gavin and scoffing, kicking him to the side. Gavin yelped quietly and fought back tears, his ribs on fire now, and before the man could leave, a familiar dash of red entered the room, a blue diamond sword glittering as the figure held it to the thug’s throat. Gavin’s eyes went wide, and he stared as Michael glared up at the taller, older man.

 “Tell me where the fuck he is right now and I won’t slice your neck open,” he warned him, blade being pushed a bit closer. “You have three seconds to fucking tell me!”

 Gavin opened his mouth, but no sound could come out. Part of him was as fascinated with this other side of Michael as he was terrified, and as much as he needed to stop Michael before he did that, he couldn’t manage it. “He’s right fucking there, your boyfriend is right fucking there!” the thug yelled, trying to back away from Michael as he pointed in Gavin’s direction. Michael’s light brown eyes followed his hand, and then looked back at the thug, keeping his blade close to him, glaring. “Get the fucking blade away from me, you psycho!”

 “Shut the fuck up!” Michael barked, and Gavin jumped, jolting when a pair of hands came from behind him, turning to see Ray with an almost anxious, nervous look on his face, starting to cut the ropes off his wrists. “You came this fucking close to death today, you asshole, and I hope you fucking realize that! Don’t you EVER fuck with us again. Or I will fucking kill you without a second thought. Don’t. Fucking. Touch. Him.”

 Gavin’s eyes watched Michael and the ever-cowering thug, standing up with Ray’s help. Michael finally pulled his blade back, the thug getting up and scrambling away as fast as he could, Michael watching him, before turning. The redhead had blood splattered on his shirt, and some on his cheek, and his blade, now that the other side was turned toward him, was also dripping with the red liquid, making a small pool on the stone floor. Gavin’s hands flew to his mouth and he gasped, staring wide-eyed at Michael, whose look turned more and more desperate and apologetic, before Ray took his arm and tugged him back toward Achievement City, his voice low and gentle.

 “Let’s go.”


	7. Excuse

**Chapter Seven: Excuse**

 The thug’s camp was about an hour walk from the city, and by the time they got back to Achievement City, Gavin safe and sound (even though he mumbled something about his ribs), the sun was starting to peek over the horizon, throwing pinks and reds and oranges over the courtyard and casting odd shadows. Gavin hadn’t spoken a word to Michael since his rescue, hadn’t even looking at him since that scared expression he had given. Michael knew what he had seen, and there was no denying what he had done. There was blood on his hands, because in that moment, he simply didn’t care; all he wanted was Gavin and it felt like there was a film over his eyes. He didn’t realize what he had done until the last one was running away with his tail between his legs and Gavin was gaping at him.

 “Hey, Michael, could you take Gavin back with you and patch him up?” Ray asked, making Gavin’s eyes go wide and head snap up toward the shortest of the three. “I should probably go check in with Geoff or something… I feel like we’re getting our asses handed to us, but, you know.”

 “N-No, Ray, I’ll be okay,” Gavin tried to argue, but Ray glared at him, and he gave up, turning back to Michael and looking at him for a split second, before looking away. “Fine.”

 Michael led him back to his house, the walk silent and Gavin’s shoulders slouched. The redhead mentally began to beat himself up, hands shaking a bit on the doorknob, and he glanced at the sky. There were dark storm clouds looking ready to pour at any moment, and Michael sighed, letting Gavin in first. Whatever determination he felt earlier was gone and replaced with utter regret, his eyes watching as Gavin sat down on his couch, and Michael lowered his eyes, not wanting to see his eyes again.

_“You’re a monster.”_

 The unsaid words rang in his head and he quickly grabbed some bandages to wrap around Gavin’s ribcage to hold his ribs in place while they healed, then something to help with the pain and some water, coming back to Gavin quietly. “Ribs, right?” he asked, and Gavin only nodded in response, making him sigh and nod. “Um. I’ll need you to take off your shirt.”

 Gavin’s face went red and he huffed, doing what he was told and pulling his shirt over his head, frowning softly. Michael started wrapping the bandage around his middle, avoiding his eyes, the room going stale quiet. The disdain in Gavin’s face was almost too much to handle, and Michael hand to keep his hands from shaking again just thinking about the blood, how it splattered all down the front of his clothes, on his face, on his sword. He took a long breath that Gavin didn’t notice, before continuing.

 “Why’d you do it?”

 Michael froze for a moment, biting his lip and sighing. “To save you.”

 Gavin went quiet again and when Michael was done, he stood, looking away from Gavin as the sandy-haired teen put back on his shirt and winced from the pain. “Thanks,” he said softly, and Michael clenched his fists, grabbing Gavin’s shoulder and turning him back around. “What are y-“

The rest of Gavin’s sentence was drowned out as Michael’s lips pressed against his, green eyes going bright as brown slipped close, Michael’s hand gripping Gavin’s shoulder, before pushing him back. “You need to go.”

 Gavin’s face was confused as he back out, then turned and left Michael’s room, his back the last thing Michael saw before his vision was clouded with tears.

* * *

 

_The crickets were loud, deafening almost, and he couldn’t help but to smile when the sandy haired teen he was with went chasing after a swarm of lightning bugs, laughing and cupping his hands over a spot of light, only to be disappointed when he hadn’t caught one. His companion's jeans were rolled up into shorts so he could wade in the warm, shallow water, while he just sat on the beach, watching him and smiling to himself._

_“C’mon, Michael, the water is really warm!” he cheered, and he laughed, shaking his head._

_“Fuck that, dude. I’m not getting in,” he yelled back, the slight breeze bringing a nice relief to the heat that settled quickly. The stars overhead were bright, but not as bright as the green eyes watching him at the moment, pleading with him to join him. “Okay, fine. Jesus fucking Christ. Stop looking at me like that.”_

_The sandy haired teen beamed as he waded into the water, already in shorts so it wasn’t a problem. He got in next to him, looking at him as he smiled wide, then laughed, trying to catch another glowbug, gasping when he pulled his hands down and opened them a peek. There was a little light shining inside his cupped hands, and he beamed wide, looking up at him._

_“I caught one!”_

_He stared at the bright eyes, the wide smile, the faint blush across those gently tanned cheeks, and he smiled, nodding._

_‘So have I.’_

* * *

 

 The next day, it was raining. Pouring, actually. Michael was glad he was able to get the map of the location of the stronghold and End Portal to Geoff before the storm, and Geoff was able to send Ryan and Jack down there to find the quickest path there and back. The redhead also got an apology, a proper one, where Geoff said that he was just so caught up in his own head and what could happen to Gavin, that he wasn’t thinking straight. But after that, he got a proper scolding from him, too, about running off with Ray like that, and how they could have gotten killed. Michael didn’t listen to that as much as he should. But Geoff, in all honesty, was just happy that they all came back, and that Gavin was okay.

 Okay was a relevant term, though. To everyone else, Gavin was fine. He would joke and laugh with everyone else, smile wide and play those stupid pranks, but when Michael showed his face, his laughter would cut, his smile would fade, and he would shrink back into his shell, away from everyone, especially Michael. It was bothersome. It made a feeling settle in his gut, a feeling Michael really didn’t like, and his heart shattered a bit each time Gavin turned from him and fled. He shouldn’t have kissed him. He messed up, and he messed up bad.

_“He doesn’t hate you.”_

 Michael watched the rain pool onto the courtyard stone, washing up the chipping paint and leaving behind the smooth, grey stone under, then looked up to watch Ryan try to herd the animals into the roofed pins, soaked to the bone with his jacket’s hood pulled up. He sighed and got up from the window, walking into his kitchen to get something to eat, tossing some steak into the furnace and leaning back against the wall, staring at the fire. Why did he kiss Gavin? He had only known him for a few months, and he didn’t like him like that at all… But… He really couldn’t deny the dreams he’d have of him, lying under the stars or playing in the lake, where he’d look at him and smile, that feeling skip of his heart hard to ignore…

 A knock at the door brought him out of his thoughts and he stood up straight, going to it and opening it. Gavin was standing on the other side, rainwater dripping from his sandy hair and green eyes just as bright as they were the day before, looking up at Michael, before down, offering him the small package he had hidden under his hoodie. “It’s from Geoff,” he murmured, turning and starting back toward his house, and Michael couldn’t handle seeing him walk away. Not after the silence between them. He tossed the package into his house, and charged out after Gavin. “Why are you ignoring me?” he asked, Gavin turning to frown at him. “Ever since last night, you’ve been avoiding me like the fucking plague, and I want a fucking answer.”

 Gavin turned to face him, brow drawn together. “You kissed me and kicked me out of your house without any explanation, Michael,” he said, voice biting and harsh. “What do you expect me to do?”

 “Why does it matter? It was just a kis-“

 Gavin’s hands came up and shoved Michael backwards. A crack of thunder rumbled the city, and Michael could barely see the lanky teen in front of him, and he struggled to hear him, shouting over the rain. “You’re an insensitive _asshole_ , Michael Jones! If it was just a kiss, why did you even kiss me! You shouldn’t jerk around people’s feelings li-“

 “I did it because I’m confused!”

 The Brit was stunned silent, and he just stared up at Michael. Geoff and Jack, who were standing on Geoff’s porch were quietly watching as Ryan joined and Ray stood next to his house under an umbrella. Gavin’s eyes didn’t leave Michael’s, silently watching him as he took deep breathes to calm himself down, and find his next words. “There’s something about you…” he said, voice dropping and searching Gavin’s face. “There’s fucking something about you that… makes my head and heart hurt as much as it does clear it… And I don’t fucking know what… Or how to deal with it…”

 They just stared at each other a moment before Michael stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Gavin’s shoulders and pulled him in for a hug. Gavin stopped a moment, shocked, before wrapping his arms around Michael in return, holding him tight. And somewhere, in the very back of his mind, in a small section of things he never knew about, a flip was switched.


	8. Wet Hands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woW!! my fic got rec'd on fuckyeahrtfanfic on tumblr a few weeks back and lemme tell you i was ecstatic!! and i guess i realized theres no link to MY tumblr anywhere around here, so click [here](http://micoolmogarjones.tumblr.com/) to go to my tumblr to drop me an ask or something i dont bite! :')

**Chapter Eight: Wet Hands**

_"There's something about you..."_

 Michael's words still rang in Gavin's head, making him stare up long and hard at his ceiling, even after him and Michael had pulled away from their hug, and parted ways, changed out of cold, wet clothes for warm, dry ones. The words still rung in his ears, replayed in his head, fit over with the mental video clip of Michael saying that, his eyes confused and hurt and somehow, still searching, his mouth in a small frown. Gavin sighed and rolled over onto his side, the patter of the rain on his window unable to lull him into sleep like it usually would, and he groaned softly to himself, staring at the wall. He had been so hopeless for months (six months, to be exact), and had thought that he would never see Michael again until he stumbled out of the woods and had him tackled to the ground with a blade at his throat. And since then, Gavin's been living on this hope; he knew that there was someway to get Michael back what he had lost, and the sandy haired Brit would do anything for that, to get back that year and a half that him and Michael spent together, all the memories that had been lost to whatever had happened to Michael.

 But he knew it was almost pointless, and all he could really do was start from the ground up and try to rebuild what was destroyed of his heart, and help himself from spewing out those three words anytime him and Michael were in a room together.

 And then there was the kiss...

 It was always like Gavin had dreamed it to be, but at the same time, the exact opposite. There was the spark he knew he would always feel, beneath the gentle touch of lips and the soft tingle Michael left, but at the same time, Michael didn’t know what he was doing, and his words- “You need to go”- still echoed in his head. He was just confused, and admitted it, but there was still that underlying confusion he had when he said that there was something about Gavin, that was like a beacon of light in the darkness, waiting to be turned on. Only thing Gavin had to figure out was how to flip the switch...

 He really had to stop thinking about this. He pulled his pillow over his head and groaned even louder, before turning off his lantern and rolling onto his stomach and falling asleep almost instantly.

* * *

 

 The next day, Gavin didn’t avoid him, but they didn’t talk about that hug from the night before, or the kiss either. The clouds had cleared overnight and left Achievement City soaked, but sunny, and Geoff made it his job to repaint the ground while everyone was off doing stuff. Since they had the location of the stronghold, and enough diamonds to make them all two sets of everything, all they really needed was potions and Ender Pearls. Ryan said he could do that, being the only one in the city who could brew potions without blowing themselves up, according to Geoff, and Ray immediately volunteered himself, Michael and Gavin for Enderman hunting. Jack offered to stay back and start working on getting together all the supplies they’d need for the trip, and once Gavin and Michael had all their gear together, they met up with Ray and they left the city into the forest between it and the lake.

 Ray was chatting about his roses, like usual, and Gavin was swinging his arms and whistling some tune Geoff had been terribly singing, so Michael fell back, absorbed in his thoughts. It was cliche, and stupid, but he could still feel Gavin’s lips on his, tingling and making shocks run through his body, and down his spine, and a part of his brain light up with fire, feeling emotions and seeing memories he would have never felt or seen otherwise. It was weird, for something like that to be able to evoke whatever was flooding Michael's mind right now. He glanced up at Ray and Gavin, the former of the two bending down to pick a rose off a rose bush, the later watching with amusement as he got himself cut on the thorn. "Son of a bitch," he cursed, taking out his knife and cutting the thorns off, before handing it to Gavin. "There, since your stupid ass always complains about not getting any of the roses out of my garden."

 Michael could picture it, Gavin begging Ray for a rose, but the Puerto Rican disagreeing every single time, and he smiled a little, laughing. That got Gavin's attention and he smiled wide, before putting the stem behind his ear. "Do I look good?" he asked, and Ray laughed, turning to continue on. "Well, Mi-Cool?"

 "You look peachy, now stop fucking around, c'mon," he said, smiling and bumping into Gavin's shoulder, getting a laugh from Gavin.

 They continued on the path, until they got to the lake, and Michael stared out into it, holding his sword in one hand, his backpack strap in the other, watching the water ripple and glisten under the afternoon sun. He could hear Gavin say something about how they should just take a break and swim a while, and Ray laughed and agreed to that, his gear falling to the warm, soft sand. Gavin followed suit, letting his bag fall to the ground and pulling off his shirt and rolling up his jeans, and Michael looked over as Gavin went running to the water, laughing. Ray followed, and before Gavin could get waist-deep, Ray was tackling him the rest of the way down, and Michael watched with an amused smile, laughing to himself as Gavin emerged, shaking his hair and wiping his face.

 “Get in, Michael!”

 Michael looked between Ray and Gavin, both of them smiling up at him, and he scoffed, taking off his gear and shirt, before starting to get in, letting Gavin splash him, and he growled. Gavin laughed and smiled wide, letting out a yelp when Michael jolted forward and tackled him back again, holding him a playful headlock. “N-No, Mi-cool, please!” Gavin pleaded, laughing as Michael’s hand came up to ruffle Gavin’s hair. “Mi-cool!”

 “Mi-cool~” Ray teased, laughing and watching the two in front of him, before looking over toward the path, seeing Geoff, Ryan and Jack standing there, the oldest of the trio shaking his head. “You fuckers are supposed to be getting Ender Pearls.”

 Gavin’s head poked back up from under the water, laughing and smiling wide at Geoff. “That’s boring. Let’s just have a lake day! We haven’t done that in forever!” he said, wide green eyes begging, and Geoff sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

 “Fine…”

 “Yeah!” he cheered, and laughed as Ray pushed him back into the water.

 Ryan laughed, smiling at them. “I’ll go back and get some food and drinks, okay?” he said, turning to head back the way he came, and before Gavin could nod, Geoff was splashing him with a snort, and he retaliated, getting Jack in the crossfire. Before he could fully realize it, he had caused a splash battle, the Ray and Michael taking his side, and Ryan joining Jack and Geoff when he came back, all six of them laughing loudly to themselves, before they all ganged up Gavin and dunked him.

 Hours later, when the sun was starting to set and Ryan had made enough food and brought enough drinks for everyone, they all sat up on the beach, eating and talking, Ray saying something about his rose garden, and Gavin talking about how the dragon’s not standing a chance, Geoff talking about the courtyard, and Jack about how hard it is to get the diamonds to fit as a pickaxe. Michael looked over to see Ryan with his feet in the water, staring out into the lake, a bottle of juice in his hand, sipping it quietly. He got up, going over to the brunette, sitting next to him. “Why are you sitting over here by yourself?” he asked, looking over at him.

 Ryan smiled and shrugged. “I dunno. Just thinking. The water feels nice, too,” he said softly, looking back out to the lake. “It’s going to start getting cold soon, so might as well enjoy it while we can.”

 Michael nodded, and they went quiet. Behind them, Ray was yelling about something, and Gavin laughed loudly, Geoff offering a small snip of a one-liner. Ryan shifted next to him and took another sip of his drink. “You know he cares about you, right?” He looked over at Ryan and Ryan looked back, smiling, then looking back at Gavin. Michael looked back, seeing Gavin double over from laughing, wiping tears from his eyes. “There was this shine, this light in his eyes, that you brought… I don’t know how, but you did.”

 Michael watched the sandy-haired teen a moment, before turning back to the lake. “Where did you come from? Before Achievement City.”

 Ryan hummed and shrugged. “I’m from the North. I came down here a few months back and stayed. It was a nice contrast down here from up there. It doesn’t get so cold here. It’s always frozen where I’m from.” Michael nodded and took a sip of his own drink. “Do you remember where you’re from?”

 Images of a crowded town filled his head, and he hummed. “I barely remember a crowded city. Lots of people. But I couldn’t tell you which way that was from here.”

 They went silent again, and Michael set his empty bottle down, looking back to see Gavin smiling wide, the fire they had set up making his face glow, and he laughed, before looking over at Michael, his entire face lighting up. “Michael, Ryan, come over here! Geoff was just telling us about some of the stuff he did when he was a kid! It’s hilarious!” he said, and Geoff threw a wad of paper at him, making him laugh again.

 Michael smiled, and Ryan put a hand on his shoulder, standing and looking down at him. “What did I tell you?” he said, smiling at him. “The light in his eyes. And it’s because of you.”

 The redhead watched as Ryan walked back over to the others, and Gavin came bounding over, laughing and smiling, helping Michael up and talking excited about the Enderdragon and how it doesn’t stand a chance. All Michael could offer was a smile and a fuck yeah.

 And he decided in that moment that he’d do anything to see Gavin smile like that.


	9. Ray

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well we're getting near the end here, guys. im writing up the last few chapters as i post this, so not too much longer now :') also, a reminder, [**this is my tumblr**](http://micoolmogarjones.tumblr.com/) if you want to go drop me an ask or something uvu

**Chapter Nine: Ray**

_Beyond the wheat field was a meadow of flowers, and he had to groan for agreeing to go there with him. It smelled like everything Ray liked, and everything he didn’t. But he pushed aside what he felt for him, who was currently picking the flowers carefully, braiding them into a crown and humming to himself as he did. He rolled his mocha eyes and stared up at the clouds, watching them float on in the sky, his red curls brushing against his skin. It was nice, he supposed, to take a break like this, especially with how busy they had been from Ryan moving into the city, building and finding materials getting a bit hectic. He looked over as his companion gave a happy noise, watching him hold up the crown of Indian paintbrushes and buttercups. “Done!” he cheered, then put the crown on top of his red curls. “Looks good on you!”_

_He blushed and snorted. “Whatever, Gavin.”_

_He dreamed of that laugh that night._

* * *

 

 While Geoff agreed that last night’s fun was a nice relaxing break from all the stressing they had done, it was time to get back to preparing for “The End” (as he had started calling it). Everyone was going out to get Ender Pearls, since that’d be easier than splitting up to find different materials, and while Michael didn’t mind working with just one other person, his mind kept getting jumbled being split up from Gavin. The sandy haired teen teamed up with Geoff, Jack with Ryan, and leaving Ray with Michael, not that they complained. While he felt a weird pulling connection to Gavin, he felt close to Ray in another way. More platonic, he guessed. Although using the term “romantic” for Gavin was weird to think about.

 They took the same path as the day before, walking down by the lake, before continuing along the shore until they found the next path along the hills and valleys. Ray was humming some stupid tune to himself, while Michael rolled over all Ryan had told him last night. The light in Gavin’s eyes… It was strange to think he apparently brought that back, according to Ryan. Why would it had been gone in the first place? But he did feel… whatever it was for Gavin, and a part of him was dedicated to keeping that light there.

 “So,” Ray’s voice was loud in the comfortable silence of nature. “You and Gav…”

 Michael snorted. “Yeah, no, I don’t think so.”

 Ray chuckled, turning to look at him. “Huh? Think?” he asked with a smile, then laughed when the red head went bright red. “I’m joking.”

 “Mhm,” Michael hummed, annoyed, then looked at Ray. “Where were you from, before Achievement City and all that?”

 The shorter man pulled down a branch to pick an apple, smiling wide. “From the west. The northwest. There’s a hill country with really crowded cities,” he said, and Michael could see them in his head. Streets filled with people, all bustling and busy, rude with their words and looks. Ray wiped the apple on his shirt. “I’m from there. I left about a year ago, when I was around seventeen, to get out of my parents’ place and ended up here. Geoff offered to let me live here so I took it.”

 He hummed, nodding as Ray took a bite of his apple. “Do you miss it?” he asked.

 “Mmm… Sometimes,” Ray said, shrugging and smiling. “But I like it in Achievement City. It’s quiet most of the time, and I’m good friends with everyone. Nothing like my hometown.”

 Michael smiled, and nodded, then Ray looked over at him. “And… Everyone’s like my family here. I couldn’t leave, even if I wanted to.”

 He stared at the shorter teen, then shrugged. “I don’t remember my hometown… I don’t remember much at all, actually.”

 “Maybe it’ll come to you someday?” he asked, hopefully, before stopping holding a hand to stop Michael, too, pointing to a tall, black figure. “That’s it,” he said, smiling wide, before running toward it, screaming “ENDERMAN!” as he went.

* * *

 

 Two Ender Pearls, and three hours later, they found themselves sitting on a hill outside of the city, sharing some lunch and quietly enjoying the serenity before they went back into the city and faced the madhouse that would be Gavin and Geoff.

 “I heard everything you two were fighting about the other night…”

 Michael almost choked on his water, coughing and looking over at Ray with a near scared expression. “W-What?” he asked, cheeks going red. He couldn’t be talking about the fight they had in the courtyard, right?

 Ray laughed, taking a bite of his food. “Well, you two weren’t speaking in library-level voices, you know. It was hard not to hear it,” he said, smiling and leaning back. “If you have to know, I’m fine with it, just have to ask a question. Did you really kiss him?”

 The red head stared over at him for a moment, before looking down and nodding. “Yeah.”

 “And you really told him to leave? Without giving him a reason?”

 “... Yeah… I… I didn’t know what I was doing, really…”

 Ray just stared at him, before sighing, and shaking his head. “You’re an idiot. Gavin really cares about you, you know. More than I’ve ever seen him care about anyone. And you probably hurt him really fucking bad doing that shit,” he said, staring up at the clouds as the wind picked up and ruffled his hair. “Gavin’s not fragile, but with how much he cares about you… He might as well be.”

 Michael watched him, before nodding and picking up his stuff, standing and looking down at Ray. “Back to the city?” Ray smiled and nodded, getting up and grabbing his stuff, following Michael down the hill and back toward the city. They fell into silence, Michael’s mind buzzing, before he opened his mouth. “I care a lot about Gavin, too,” he said, part of his mind not registering what he was saying. “And I don’t think I’ve ever cared so much before him.”

 Ray turned and stared at Michael, and the redhead just gave the straightest, most determined face he could, before Ray smiled and punched him lightly on the arm. “You’re so fucking stupid,” he laughed, smiling wide and running off into the city, getting a happy greeting from Ryan and Jack, who turned when he ran in. Michael watched with a smile, before he caught sight of Gavin holding up his bag, cheeks red and face covered in mud, and he calmly walked into the city, getting a happy cheer from the sandy haired teen as soon as he saw him.

 “Michael! Michael! Geoff and I got three Ender Pearls, and when we were chasing the last one, I fell face-first into mud,” he said excitedly, smiling wide at Michael. “Geoff nearly pissed himself, the pleb.”

 “Well, when the stupid Brit you’ve been housing for almost three years now falls face-first into the mud while chasing an Enderman, yeah, you’d piss yourself laughing, too, asshole,” Geoff laughed, throwing a towel at him. “How many did you and Ray manage to get?”

 “Two.”

 “Perfect. Jack and Ryan got three, and Gavin and I got three. That makes eight, and that’s exactly how much we need for the portal.”

 Gavin cleaned off his face and smiled wide, nodding. “That dragon really doesn’t stand a chance!”

 “Sure,” Geoff laughed, shaking his head. “Tomorrow we’re going to the Nether, so everyone get a good’s night rest tonight, alright?”

 A chorus of ‘okay’s sounded over the courtyard, and everyone broke their separate ways, and Gavin looked back over at Michael, green eyes bright and smile wide. “Sleep well tonight, okay, Mi-cool?”

 Michael’s heart started racing, and he nodded silently, watching as Gavin walked off, before he let out his held breath, standing there confused for a moment.

 What in the fuck?

* * *

 

 The night air was cool and felt nice against his skin, his sword on the ground next to him as he picked at the grass, his brown eyes watching every little piece that he plucked from the dirt, face straight and serene. For a moment, he wondered if it would have been easier to just never come back, to stay at his own house, in his own little corner of the world, tucked away amongst the trees and grass. It would have been simpler not to get caught up in all these confusing emotions for Gavin, but at the same time… the confusing emotions for Gavin were what cleared his head, made his life a bit less of a mess to live. What Ryan said was true; that night he found Gavin outside his house, when he tackled him and pinned him to the dirt, glaring and threatening, there was no sparkle or determination in his eyes. They looked so hollow. But now, over a month later, Gavin’s green eyes were wide and shining and sometimes they felt like the lights guiding Michael through the darkness.

 And it was because of him.

 Michael looked back as Gavin ran up, his sword in his sheath against his back, smile wide and shining as he practically slid down to sit with Michael, handing him some food and a bottle of juice (“I did not steal it from Ryan, I promise!”). He smiled and took it from the Brit, uncapping the juice and taking a sip, brown eyes scanning over the trees again, before Gavin shifted a little next to him, laying his head on his shoulder.

 His heart erupted into butterflies.

 “Do you really think we can do it?” he asked softly, almost being drown out by Michael’s own heartbeat. “Defeat the Enderdragon, I mean…” Gavin looked up, green eyes waiting for an answer, sandy hair a mess and he was so close Michael could see that one freckle under his right eye, how his eyes were a mix of grey and blue and green.

 “Of course,” he said, moving his hand to push at Gavin’s shoulder, watching him fall over with a laugh. “We’ll kick it’s ass, Gavin. Don’t worry.”

 Gavin laughed and laid back in the grass, smiling and watching the sky as Michael watched the forest, looking down at his drink and internally sighing.

 At least he hoped they could.


	10. Into the Nether

**Chapter Ten: Into the Nether**

 “Nether trip?”

 Michael’s face scrunched up as Ray nodded, throwing his backpack onto his back and grabbing a few potions he had in stock, handing them to Michael. “Yup. There’s some ingredient Ryan needs for the potions. Him and Geoff found the obsidian in the storage cellar behind Ryan’s house. So they put it together and lit it. It’s on the outskirts of town since they don’t want anything wandering in on accident. Nether beings might not survive long here, but they survive long enough.” he grabbed his sword and looked over at Michael, smiling. “If you’re worried, we’ll be fine. Geoff and Jack have been to and from the Nether enough times in and out of Achievement City that they’d know what they’re doing. They wouldn’t send us in there if they thought it’d be too dangerous for us.”

 The redhead nodded and followed Ray out, shifting his backpack on his back and shivering a little at the early morning air. Geoff was holding something out of Gavin’s reach while Gavin tried to grab it, Ryan fiddling with something near his ear and Jack standing off to the side shaking his head at the spectacle before him. “Good morning, Ray, Michael,” the man greeted as they walked up, returning Ray’s fistbump and patting Michael on the back.

 “Finally,” Geoff said, pushing Gavin back with his free hand. “Alright, we haven’t been to the Nether in about a year now, so Ryan and Jack took the liberty of making us communication devices,” he said, handing the one he was holding to Jack, before offering one to Michael, Ray and Gavin, and taking one for himself. “We’re splitting up into two groups, one will go with Jack, the other with me. We’ve been to the Nether, we’ve seen it, and we’ll be able to navigate it better than you would on your own. Just keep the devices on so we can keep in touch and be ready at a moment’s notice in case something goes wrong, agreed?”

 Everyone nodded and split up into their groups- Jack with Ryan and Michael, and Geoff with Gavin and Ray, and headed off toward the Nether portal outside of town, the trip more or less quiet, given where they were going. Ray had been telling him about the Nether all morning, since he had been there the day Geoff, Jack and Gavin had first gone into the Nether and abandoned ship so quickly. He said the sky is red and murky, and the ground looks almost like gravel, but is the color akin to blood, that the lakes and seas are made of lava and the beings that live there are either grossly mutated, or simply dangerous. He said it was probably "hell", or the closest things they would see of it, and that "pep talk" had Michael wondering just what he was getting himself into. It had been a few days since he and Gavin had taken the night watch together, about four or five since he had thought to himself if all this was really worth it. And while he told himself it was, that having his thoughts cleared and head stable and emotions more sorted than he could ever remember them was more worth it than living alone for the sole purpose of convience, he still second guessed himself.

 What if they were all wrong? Gavin was, without a doubt, the one in his dreams. He had seen those eyes, heard that voice, caught a glimpse of that skin reflecting sunlight so brilliantly, melted under that smile... But these feelings, those emotions he felt toward him, were so foreign. He had never awoken with emotions outside of emptiness, with no explaination of why there were tears down his face, why those three words slipped off his lips as he was coming out of sleep and coming into reality, never able to answer the "why" circling his head for six months. But now he could, and as reckless as he wanted to be with it, he knew he couldn't. While Michael was more-or-less sure of his own emotions and feelings toward Gavin, the opposite was back to square one in terms of understanding. Gavin, while as open as a book somtimes, was a spiraling mass of question marks and confusing for Michael when trying to comprehend just where he stood with the sandy haired Brit.

 "You okay back there?"

 Jack's voice broke through Michael's thoughts, and the curly-haired teen jumped, staring up at the older man, before nodding and smiling. "Yeah. Just thinking through some stuff."

 "If it's about the Nether, you'll be fine, kid," Jack told him, and Ryan nodded in agreement, and ahead of them he could hear Gavin and Geoff arguing loudly over something Ray's laughter. "Geoff and I have gone in there enough to know what to expect. Just stay close to me and Ryan and you'll be fine."

 Michael nodded, and for a moment he could see the gears turning in Jack's head, like he wanted to say something else, but doesn't, and before he can ask about it, they're standing in front of a black frame, a glowing, purple mass swirling in the middle. A weird feeling settled in Michael's gut, a mixture of apprehension and dread, and Geoff groaned, stretching. "Alright. So, Ryan, you know what we need, and Gavin has a list. If there's any problem, radio over the device and we'll come find you. If there's a change in plan, or if you got enough of whatever you need, do the same. The quicker we can do this, the happier I'll be. I hate the fucking Nether."

 "Understood, boss," Jack said, and Geoff put his hand on his shoulder, before stepping up to the frame, and into the swirl of purple. In a blink of an eye, he was gone, and Jack put a hand up to his earpiece. "You okay Geoff?" he asked, and it echoed in Michael's ear, before there was a laugh.

 "Doin' just fine. Send Gavin and Ray through."

 Gavin and Ray didn't need another word. They both stepped into the frame, waving before they, too, vanished, and Michae's gut sunk again.

 "Ryan?"

 "On my way," he said, getting in and disappearing, leaving Jack and Michael alone with the frame, and Jack looked back, motioning toward it.

 Michael swallowed down the nervousness in his throat, walking up to the frame and putting a hand on the side to steady himself as he stepped up onto the level part. "C'mon, Mi-cool! Don't chicken out, now!" he heard Gavin say into his ear, followed by Geoff's quiet "shut up".

 "Fuck you, Gavin," he said, stepping into the purple portal. His vision danced and swirled, Jack's face spiraling before it went dark, and he felt like he was free-falling through space, before his vision was brought back to a startling clarity, and he was toppling forward, hearing Ryan and Geoff exclaim something.

 "Shit," Geoff cursed, steadying him and holding onto his arm. "Michael, are you okay?"

 "Dizzy," he said, putting a hand on his head, standing up straight and groaning, blinking away the swirling purple patterns, and looking around at the group, before hearing a 'woosh' and Jack's footsteps behind him. "I'll be okay."

 Geoff huffed and nodded, giving Michael a bottle of water. "Alright, just be careful. I know going through the portal the first part is a little overwhelming, but it does fuck with your cordination. Ryan, Jack, make sure he doesn't trip and fall into lava or anything, okay?"

 Jack and Ryan nodded, and with a few soft goodbyes, they parted their seperate ways, Jack, Ryan and Michael heading to the left, while Geoff, Gavin and Ray went to the right. There wasn't much to look at, Michael figured, the landscape as murky and red as Ray had described. There were a few randomly lit fires littering the ground, and every once in a while, he'd heard a weird groaning noise, but he brushed them off, following closely to Ryan and Jack, the cliff they were walking along overlooking a lake of lava, Michael watching with a stupid fasination, before looking back at the men he was following. "Okay, so I need glowstone dust..." Ryan said, listing off what he'd need on his fingers, Jack listening intently and Michael trying, but finding it hard to catch up with all that he was saying. They stopped, Ryan pointing out a glowing mass from a nearby overhanging, and he went over to get some of the dust he needed, leaving Jack and Michael just out of earshot.

 "You weren't just thinking about the Nether back in the Overworld, were you?" Jack asked as Michael set his things down and stripped off his shirt, leaving him in a tank top. He didn't think it'd be scorcing here. "It was Gavin, wasn't it?"

 Michael stared at Jack in disbelief- did he wear this on his fucking face or something? First Ryan, then Ray, and now Jack? "U-Uh..."

 "It's not some secret. Gavin might be dense as a rock, but we're not. We all know," he said, casually like it was no big deal, but Michael could hear something else under his voice... a tone he couldn't place... "And it's obvious that you like the idiot. So why don't you just go for it?"

 He was stumped, before shrugging and tucking his shirt away into his backpack. "Because... I don't know how Gavin feels about me. All my assumptions- no, everyone else's assumptions- could be wrong for all I know. Then what? I'm stuck with feelings I don't understand, and a friend who won't talk to me?"

 "Worst case scenario."

 "Then what's the best?" he challenged the older man, frowning and glaring up at him. "What's the best case scenario that could come out of this?"

 Jack smiled, like he knew something Michael didn't, looking down at him. "He feels the same, and you two end up happy," he said simply, shrugging and watching Ryan has he collected these shards into a pouch. "And I think the best case scenario is worth the risk. Because you really don't know how they'd respond until they do, and you can't stop yourself because you're scared of what will happen. You've got to... take the chance, seize the day, and all that shit that Ray would say."

 Michael watched Jack a moment longer, before Ryan came walking back up, holding up a pouch and smiling wide. "Got the glowstone. Radio Geoff and tell him," he said, before there was a cry of "FUCK!" over the radio, making all three of them jump. "Shit, dude, fuckin'-"

 "Goddamn, Ray, shut up!" Gavin yelled, and there was a shuffle over the mics, before Geoff's sigh came through, exhausted already.

 "This is going to take for fucking ever..."

* * *

 

 It was dark when they all got back to Achievement City, and while Ray and Gavin took up the lead, chatting and bragging about how many Blazes they killed (ignoring the burns they had), Geoff and Ryan took to the middle, talking quietly about the potions, and how they'd brew them with what they had, leaving Jack and Michael to pull up the rear, walking in silence, before Michael sighed softly. "I didn't ask you- where did you come from before you lived here?"

 Jack looked down at Michael in shock, before shrugging. "A quiet little city by the river. Not much to say about it."

 Michael nodded, and once their feet hit the courtyard, he could heard the arguement between Gavin and Ray turn into a one-up-show between Gavin and Geoff, in which they were bragging about how many times they saved each others' asses, Ray rolling his eyes and walking off to go to bed, and Ryan tending to the animals, while listening in with amusement. Jack just sighed and shook his head, and Michael scoffed. "Really Gavin? That's absolutely pathetic," he started, and Gavin looked over at Michael, who frowned. "I bet Geoff saved your sorry ass more than you're giving him credit for."

 "Thank you!" Geoff exclaimed, and Gavin's mouth fell open.

 "You're taking his side?!"

 "Yeah, because he's not sugar coating his story!"

 Gavin whined and threw an empty bottle at Michael, who caught it and dropped it immediately, chasing after Gavin, who laughed loudly and ran from the redhead. "Hey no, you fucker! Come back, I'm kicking your ass! Don't run from revenge, Gav!"

 "No, Mi-cool! Don't!" he pleaded, laughing as Michael tackled him into the grass, wrapping his arms around Gavin's waist and holding him down. "Michael, please!"

 "Say sorry for throwing that fucking bottle at me and I'll think about it!"

 "But Michael, I'm all sweaty and gross and I'm covered in burns!"

 "Should have thought about that before you instigated this, huh?"

 Gavin laughed again as Michael ruffled his hair to hell, then got off the Brit, offering him a hand up with a smug smile. "Your hair looks fucking awful."

 "Thanks," the sandy haired teen said, smiling wide. "It goes to show how much you know about hair, then!"

 Michael stared at him, before laughing loudly and pushing Gavin, who joined in the laughter quickly, until they were both breathless idiots in the grass, laughing about something stupid and smiling at each other like they had known each other their entire lives.

 He felt like he had in that moment. And it made reality hurt all the more when he came back down, went home to change and sleep, until he was staring at his ceiling with the crippling realization that he didn't know much of anything about Gavin. That he was just as much of a stranger as he would ever be.

 Michael didn’t sleep well that night.

* * *

 

_“Cut it out, Jack.”_

_Ryan’s voice came through over the courtyard, echoing across the buildings and making him smile, watching them with amused eyes. Jack had a cowbell he was currently trying to untie from around Ryan’s favorite cow, and every time Ryan noticed, Jack shrunk back with a laugh and a wide smile._

_“I’m serious. Edgar’s the only one with the cowbell, so leave it alone!”_   
  
_“Why Edgar?” come Jack’s amused question, and he can see his smug smile, and Ryan visibly bristles._

_“He’s my favorite cow.”_

_“There’s twenty other cows. And what happens if Edgar dies?”_

_“Then I’ll put the bell on another one.”_

_Jack frowns and arches an eyebrow. “But then he wouldn’t be Edgar.”_

_It takes a moment, but then Ryan smiles at Jack, his smile chillingly calm and voice steady. “Edgar is the one with the bell.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ **[tumblr](http://micoolmogarjones.tumblr.com/)** ]  
> [ **[A Dream To Remember Fanmix](http://micoolmogarjones.tumblr.com/post/59400526422/theres-something-about-you-an-a-dream-to)] (yknow in case any of u are curious as to what i listened to writing this)**


	11. Gavin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have the entire story finished in my google drive as i type this, and im releasing new chapters a few at a time. theres only four more left and my heart hurts just thinking about a dream to remember being over :''') but in all the right ways

 

**Chapter Eleven: Gavin**

_His pickaxe hit the rock with a dull thud, the sound resonating in the empty cave, and he groaned, frowning at the lack of iron he could find, and turning to look at Geoff, who was carefully chipping away at stone on the opposite wall, his face deep in concentration. He took out his bottle of water and took a drink, his mind buzzing with everything that happened back in the city. Gavin passing out, almost hitting his head on the concrete, how high his fever was, the cough… His entire being was worried for his sandy-haired best friend, and he finally sighed.  “Do you think Gavin’ll be okay?”_

_“He’ll be fine. It’s just a little fever, and Ryan found the medicine he needed. He just needs to stay in bed and not run around,” Geoff said calmly, looking back at him, his face softening a little as he saw the scrunched up face and worried look. “Gavin will be fine. Don’t worry, okay?”_

_He looked down and shrugged, nodding and picking his pick axe back up to start working again, his mind filled with nothing but the sandy haired boy._

* * *

 

 Michael could feel the buzzing tension settling over the city, the more days passed and the closer they got to The End, and the stress was starting to affect them all. Geoff wasn’t sleeping as well, staying up late to look over notes and pace his living room, while Ryan was constantly cleaning the cowbell around Edgar’s neck and Jack sharpening his swords almost compulsively. Ray was tending to his roses more than usual and even Gavin- the stupid, bouncy, carefree British idiot that was affected by pretty much nothing- was getting a bit more snappy than usual, his sarcasm morphing into something a bit more cold when everyone else was getting too high-strung. He supposed the only thing bothering him at the current moment was the idea of actually going to face off against a dragon, but he could ignore that in favor of actually helping defeat it.

 It felt weird, thinking about how in a little over two months, he’s grown from thinking he was all alone, to calling these men in this odd town his family, that he went from a little wooden shack in the woods to a place that felt so right to call home.

 He set down the bucket of water, standing back up and letting out a held breath. “Got it,” he said into Ryan’s house, the older man coming out to pick it up. “Is that everything?” he asked.

 “That should be… Brewing as many potions as we’re going to need will take a while,” he said, smiling at Michael. “But thank you for your help. I think Geoff needs some help getting together the last of the ingredients I need if you want to go ask him.”

 Michael nodded, then left to go next door to Geoff’s, looking back to Gavin’s house. The windows were dark and he sighed, turning to wave toward Geoff with a smile. “Need any help?” he asked. “With getting the last ingredients Ryan needs for potions?”

 “I do actually,” Geoff said, smiling and setting down the cloth he was using to clean up his windows. “Ryan needs watermelon and carrots, but with that fancy gold dust shit or whatever. The magic crap. I wouldn’t mind help with it.”

 Michael shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”

* * *

 

 Two hours later, and with enough burns on their hands and gold dust inhaled, Michael and Geoff finally brought Ryan his golden carrots and glistering melons. After dropping them off, they headed back over to Geoff’s, Geoff offering Michael a drink and something to eat while they lazed about. Jack and Ray, according to the eldest, were out making sure their stronghold route was still there and quick to navigate so they didn’t have to spend so much time wandering around when that time came. And Gavin was still in his house, which, in turn, made the city dead quiet. Geoff reappeared, handing Michael a bottle of water and a sandwich, both of them sitting on the porch steps of his house, watching out over the courtyard, the wind rustling the trees and occasionally a moo from the animal pen reaching their ears.

 “So…”

 “You know both of you are idiots.”

 Michael jumped, looking over at Geoff and staring, watching the older man take a drink of whatever alcohol he had found. “You and Gavin. Actual assholes. The stupidest assholes I’ve ever met, and that says a lot because I’ve met too many stupid assholes.” He just stared at Geoff, dumbstruck by where all of this was coming from. “Look, it’s not a big secret, Michael. You like Gavin. And, hey, guess what, that stupid British idiot who’s like a son to me, likes you, too. What a world we live in.”

 "Y-Yeah, well, how can you be sure?" he asked, blushing and taking a bite of his sandwich, then taking a drink of his water, avoiding looking at Geoff. "Gavin might be really... eccentric, but there's no way you can tell if he likes me or not..."

 "Sure I can." Michael looked over at Geoff, confusion written on his face, watching the older man. "I know Gavin better than anyone. And I know, without a doubt, Michael, that he likes you just as much as you like him... If not more." He took another drink of his whiskey, then looked over at Michael with a smile, nudging him with his elbow. "And speak of the devil..." Michael turned to look to where Geoff was looking to see Gavin stumble out of his house, hair sticking up in random places and yawning, rubbing his eyes. "Now go."

 Michael turned and gave Geoff a frightened look, the older man just pushing his back for him to stand up. "Trust me. Just go. Tell him how you feel. I promise you he'll feel the same."

 They were silent for a whole moment, before Gavin was calling Michael's name, a huge, sleepy smile on his face, rushing over to him and Geoff. "Good mornin', Geoff! Good morning, Michael!" he cheered, before looking around. "Where is everyone? Did I miss something?"

 "Ray and Jack are checking the routes to the portal, Ryan's making potions and I'm about to go help him. So, if you and Michael could go dig that armor out of storage and do some work on it, that'd be great, buddy," he said, Gavin smiling wide, while Michael glared. "I know how much you like working with armor, and how little you get to do it, so go crazy. Do whatever you want with it."

 Gavin nodded and grabbed Michael's hand, then drug him away to where the storage was, the red head flipping Geoff off as they walked, before turning to look at the back of Gavin's head, frowning a little. "So... Where is storage, exactly?"

 "It's a little cellar behind Ryan's house. It's where we store all our older material, weapons and armor. Everything in there rarely gets handled or touched since we normally don't do anything this big. It's been quite a while since I've even seen the armor in our chests, much less touched them. I already have ideas for everyone's armor, I'm so excited!" he chattered, his entire face lighting up, and Michael couldn't help but to find that more than endearing. He hadn't seen him get this excited over anything, and he would have never have guessed his secret love was for armor decorating and forging. Gavin knocked on Ryan’s window and waved, then went around the back, opening up the door, revealing a staircase behind, looking back at Michael. “We need… six sets of armor… I think we have some of our old customized stuff down here that I’ll have to dig up… A-And I’ll make you a new set from scratch! Unless we have that extra set..."

 The cellar was dusty and damp, moss growing on the stone walls, chests old with splitting wood and rusty hinges, and Gavin walked over to the chest on the far right, kneeling down and opening it with a hum, digging through it, face focused and deep in concentration. Michael opened a few other chests, peeking inside to see their contents, most of them filled with older, broken weapons covered in dust and tools that looked worn beyond belief. A small excited noise got his attention, and when he turned to look at Gavin, he saw him holding up a tunic, looking over it and smiling wide. "I knew we still had it," he said under his breath, then looked over at Michael, standing up and handing it to him. "Can you try that on? That's our extra set and I want to make sure it'll fit you before I start adding anything to it."

 Michael nodded, and Gavin wordlessly went back over to the chest, digging through it and taking out more clothes- a dark green shirt and scarf, a bright green top with red pants, plaid shorts and a whit shirt, a suit, then a creeper tunic, which he held and smiled a bit longer at.  Michael took off his own shirt, then slipped into the one Gavin handed him, getting his attention with a cough. "It fits." Gavin looked back and smiled wide, getting up and bouncing over to Michael, turning him to look at the shirt from all angles. "I thought you said this was armor? It feels like normal clothes to me."

 "It's enchanted. That's where the protection comes from. Now take that off and help me move the rest of these back up to my house. I have work to do!"

* * *

 

 That night, after the sun set, and the stars dotted the sky with their little white lights, and Gavin successfully finished all the armor for everyone, he and Michael went down to the lake to wash up from all the cobwebs and dust from the cellar. Their diamond swords twinkled in the moonlight from their place on the shore, and Gavin leaned down to wash his hair out,  mumbling something about the water being cold, and Michael ran his hands over his face, Geoff's voice playing over in his head.

_"Tell him how you feel. I promise he'll feel the same."_

 Michael looked over at Gavin's bare chest and cleared his throat, instantly getting the sandy-haired Brit his attention, and a pair of green eyes looked back, confusion written on his face. "You okay, Michael?" he asked. The wind picked up and blew against their bare, wet skin, making them both shiver.

 "Yeah, I'm fine, I just..." he stopped and took a deep breath, looking straight at Gavin. Brown and green. "Look, I know I haven't been here long. Barely over two months... But I... I like you. There's something in my head telling me this is right. Something telling me that there's more between us than just friends, and I figure if... We're going to go battle the Ender Dragon tomorrow... Then I should tell you, so at least I did it if something went wrong."

 Gavin gawked at him for a moment, staring at him with his mouth open slightly, a faint blush on his cheeks, barely noticeable in the moonlight. "M-Michael, are... You for real...?" he asked, eyes looking over Michael's face, over his expression and back up to his eyes.

 "I am," he said softly, nodding and waiting for the slap of rejection, only to get Gavin's arms around his neck, holding him tight, laughing into his shoulder, the feeling of his lips pulling into a smile against his skin, and Michael smiled, wrapping his arms back around Gavin, holding him close and sighing with relief. Something felt so right about this, felt so natural and perfect, and whatever it was, Michael hoped it never went away.


	12. The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [vibrates excitedly] were so close to the end of this story oooo h man  
> on a side note, this chapter isnt my favorite in terms of how the fight with the enderdragon goes. i suck at battle scenes and well. it was a battle scene. but its still a good chapter in terms of whats happening and everything. i hope you enjoy!!  
> only three more chapters to go!!!

**Chapter Twelve: The End**

 Michael looked like a stranger in the mirror, the same mirror he stared into when he first came to this city. But this time, there were no bandages, no blood or bruises, and instead of feeling panic and fear when he looked at himself in this room, in this house, he felt relief and belonging. It was weird, a few months ago, his entire world revolved around this sense of loneliness, how his head hurt from dreams and heart hurt from three words repeated in an echo. How he felt like he was the only person on the planet, and those dreams of Achievement City were only that- dreams. And now... He was standing in those "dreams", facing himself in a mirror in a city he thought was impossible, about to run off with five men that would otherwise be strangers and fight a dragon, all because he trusted them and wanted to see the best things happen to them, even if that meant something bad would happen to himself. His head and heart were still missing things, details of his past life, before that field, that he'd probably never see again. But he felt okay about that, accepted that there would be things he'd never know- where he came from, his family, his friends before Gavin and the rest- and that was okay with him. He could live without those details.

His face was brighter than it was two months ago, his eyes shining with a light and mouth almost turned into a smile, a single dimple on one corner of his face, and it was all too familiar when the door opened behind him and he turned, brown eyes staring down Gavin's green. The Brit's face changed from shock to happiness, his face lighting up at the sight of the red-head, smiling wide and coming over to Michael to hand him the armor he had made, green eyes shimmering. "Today's the day."

 "Yeah..." Michael said, nodding and taking the outfit from Gavin with a nod, taking a deep breath. "Are you nervous?"

 Gavin's smile faded and he looked down. "I'm scared, Michael," he said quietly, and the red-head turned to face him, worry on his face. "I'm scared because... What if I lose you? Or someone else..." he asked, eyes lifting to look at Michael, concern etched deep in those green irises. "I can't go through that, Michael..."

 The words _"not again"_ hung heavy and unspoken in Michael's head.

 Huh?

 Michael watched Gavin for a moment, before the sandy-haired Brit straightened up and smiled. "Better get ready. We're leaving soon. I'll meet you out in the courtyard," he said, turning but stopping in the doorway, before looking back at Michael. "And Michael?"

 "Yeah?" he asked, watching Gavin's smile shift, before it was back again.

 "Just be safe today... Okay?"

* * *

  After getting ready in the custom made bear armor Gavin had designed, and packing away everything he'd need in his backpack, Michael headed out to the courtyard where the rest of the group was waiting. Ray and Jack were missing, and Geoff was handing both Gavin and Ryan the same headsets they had used when they went to the Nether, before looking up to Michael, a small smile on his face. Gavin had a bow strapped to his back, clad in armor made out of the skin of a Creeper, looking eerily similar to the hoodie he wore those months ago, and Ryan had on those red plaid shorts he had seen be pulled out of the chest, and a sword was held in a sheath against his back, messing with his headset as Geoff walked up to Michael. "Well, here you go," he said, and Michael took the device from the older man, putting it around his ear and lining the mouth piece up to where it'd pick his voice up better. "Did you tell him?"

 Michael looked up at Geoff. "Yeah... Last night after we had come out of the cellar and Gavin had worked on the armor. He needed to be cleaned up and I offered to go with him. And I told him."

 "And was I wrong?"

 The red head smiled as the older man smirked, pushing him. "No, you weren't, but don't fucking start."

 Geoff smirked again and Michael rolled his eyes, turning when he heard Ray's voice echo over the city, seeing the shorter man and Jack both walking up to them. "Let's kick some dragon ass!" he yelled, getting a woop of a cheer in return from Gavin, and a smile from Ryan, Geoff and Jack just shaking their heads.

"Alright, assholes, don't run off and get yourselves killed, alright?" he said, handing Jack and Ray their headsets, before turning to face the whole group, his blue eyes scanning every single one of them, a sigh leaving his lips. "This is it, guys. The Enderdragon. Now, Ray is going to be out background support. Off-to-the-side without it sounding rude. Ryan and Jack are going to take positions to the left, Michael and Gavin to the right. Gavin, Jack, fire your arrows only when you know you've got a clean shot, and Michael and Ryan, be careful at getting too close to the dragon. I'll take up the middle, and try my best to help anyone who needs it. Ray, keep an eye on your arrows, Ryan on your potions. Does everyone understand?"

 There was a moment of quiet across the courtyard, before everyone nodded and offered up small "yes sir"s. Geoff stood for a moment, just watching everyone, before he sighed, a small smile crossing his face. "Let's go then."

 They walked in absolute silence, the only sounds being of birds in the trees and their feet in the grass. Geoff led the way with Jack, Ryan and Ray in the middle, with Michael and Gavin the back. He was so focused on not freaking out on the way there, that Michael barely noticed Gavin's hand sliding into his until he felt fingers lace into his and squeeze gently. He looked over at Gavin, who looked back, smiling softly and squeezing again, and Michael returned the gesture. "You're my boy," he said quietly, voice shaking with nerves and Michael smiled.

 "You're my boy, Gav."

 The grass and dirt below their feet turned to gravel and stone, the sunlight soon becoming torch and lantern light, their way marked on a hastily drawn map Geoff pulled out, studying it and helping Jack and Ray navigate to the way they needed to go. Stone turned to bricks, and while Michael wasn't focusing on much but Gavin's hand and how perfectly it fit into his, he did notice the collective gasps from everyone when they saw the End Portal, lit up in all it's glory. Geoff and Jack were the first to step up to it, looking down into it's black, starry gaze, and Ray and Ryan exchanged worried glances, Gavin's hand tightening on Michael's once more. "We're here," Jack claimed quietly, looking back to the group. "We'll go in two at a time. Who wants to go first?"

 The moment Ray opened his mouth to volunteer, Michael was already stepping up, Gavin's hand still in his and a determined look on his face. "I'll go," he said, and Gavin nodded, stepping up with him. He could feel Jack and Geoff's eyes on their hands, before they stepped down from the portal, offering it to them.

 "One go in, report, then the other. Do not attack the dragon until we're all there, alright?"

 They nodded and Gavin looked to Michael, worry in his eyes, before letting go of his hand ( _"nonono"_ ), before he stepped off the ledge and into the portal, his body disappearing the moment his boot hit the space in the frame. There was a breath passed between them, before their ears all rang with the same, stupidly British voice. "Alright, Mi-cool, come on through!" They all let out a breath, relieved, before Michael stepped up and looked back, smiling at them before jumping into the portal.

 The feeling was different then it was going through the Nether portal. Where that was all free-fall and dizzying sensations, this was weightlessness, the feeling of floating underwater. His eyes were shut, his body limp, feeling like he was just slowly cascading deeper, a small voice echoing in his head.

  _"That's him."_

 He went to open his eyes, only to find a black abyss stared back at him, and his body felt a pressure, making it hard to breath and think, before he felt his shoes hit the ground and a hand on his chest, steading him as he stared blankly ahead. His vision came back instantly, Gavin's green eyes staring back at him, his lips letting out a sigh of relief. "Thank god," he breathed, before radioing in for the rest to follow suit. Michael put a hand to his chest, taking in full, deep breaths of air, wondering what that voice was as he could hear the group come in behind him. He turned to stare at them. Did they feel that weightlessness? The floating? The pressure? Did they hear the voice echo in their head and all around them? He looked around as he thought. A dark, endless sky, the platform they were standing on made of some sand-colored stone, and he could hear the dragon behind the low wall they hid behind, and Gavin visible tensed up next to him. Michael shut off his thoughts the moment Geoff appeared next to Jack, his face determined and deep in thought. "Ready?"

 They all nodded, and Geoff drew his sword, peeking around the low wall and motioning for Ray. "There's pillars of... obsidian? I think those crystals on top have something to do with the dragon. Can you take them out?"

 Ray pulled out the bow on his back, drawing and arrow and getting ready. "Hell yeah. YOLO, right?"

 "Gavin, Michael, get ready to run around on the other side. Ryan and Jack, you do the same. On my count."

 Gavin drew his bow, giving Michael a scared look and swallowing visibly.

 "Three."

 Michael stared down Gavin for a moment, wanting nothing more than to kiss him in that moment to make the fear go away, but knowing he couldn't.

 "Two."

 He felt it. The spark, that connector that brought him here in the first place, the moment his fingers met with the bare of Gavin's cheek, the touch a small comforting gesture, and Gavin's green eyes went wide.

 "One..."

 He pulled his sword out and gave him a small smile.

 "Now!"

 Gavin and Michael took off after the final syllable left Geoff's mouth, the oldest jumping over the wall and charging up from the middle, while Ryan, Jack, Michael and Gavin took either side. Ray was busy aiming his arrows at the crystals on top of the pillars, taking them out with small explosions, face in complete concentration. Gavin and Jack drew arrows back to aim at the dragon above them, while Michael watched him carefully, waiting for a moment for him to land, eyes wide when he noticed him opening his mouth. "Watch out!" he yelled, and the all ducked, shielding themselves from the purple fire the Enderdragon had breathed. When they stood back up, Ryan was already uncapping a potion, the golden one, downing it and running at the dragon the moment it landed, Michael following suit.

 "Ray be careful!" he heard Gavin shout, and he looked around to see Ray balancing himself on top of one of the pillars, taking out his bow again and aiming for the crystals still left, his shot on target this time. Michael looked back as the dragon flew off, and he gasped, realizing it was heading toward Ray, and he dropped his sword, running as its fire breath knocked the short man back, making him fall off the side, Michael barely making it in time to catch him, both of them falling to the ground with pained groans. "Michael!"

 Gavin aimed his arrow back at the dragon, firing at it and taking off toward Michael and Ray, getting Geoff's attention, as well as Ryan's, all of them watching Michael and Ray stand up. "Jesus, that was a hell of a fall," Ray joked, grabbing his broken bow. "Thanks."

 Michael shook his head, taking his sword the moment Gavin ran up to them with it, nodding and heading back over to the now-landing Enderdragon, Ryan offering a few swipes toward it's stomach, but Michael got up on it's back, stabbing down into it's back and gasping when he was thrown off. His sword clattered to the ground and his back hit the stone beneath him, knocking the wind out of him. His head was a black mess for a moment, before he noticed Geoff's sword slit it's neck right at it's throat, a bright white light erupting and covering over them all. Michael held up his arm, shielding his eyes as the dragon erupted into sparkling lights that fell down around them, eyes busy watching the show before him that he didn't notice Gavin's hand on his arm, helping him up. "We did it!" he cheered, smiling wide and laughing.

 His brain took a moment, before there was a loud cheer from Ryan and Ray, Geoff and Jack exchanging hugs, and it sunk in. They did it. They defeated the Enderdragon. The fountain in the middle of the platform was now a working portal, and in the center was a pedestal, a black and purple egg on top of it, and Geoff was already climbing over onto it to grab it, standing and holding it above his head. "We killed the Enderdragon!" he yelled, voice laughing and body shaking. Gavin's arms found their way around Michael, and caught up in the moment, Michael wrapped his around Gavin, holding him tight and spinning him around, laughing against him and feeling the rumble of sobs against his chest.

 "We did it," he mumbled to the sandy-haired Brit, still tangled into his arms.

 "We did it," Gavin said back, voice shaking and quiet, but full of happiness.

 They parted from the embrace, staring at each other with wide smiles and tears in their eyes, and before Michael could lean forward and press his lips against Gavin's, Ray was coming up to them and wrapping his arms around their necks, holding them to him and laughing, smiling wide. Michael looked over at Gavin on the other side of Ray now, smiling, and the Brit returned it, laughing in time with Ray and holding the shorter man close.

 "Alright, let's go home, guys," Geoff called out, and they all turned to go back to the portal, Ryan, Jack and Geoff already standing on the edge, ready to go home and put the edge in some sort of display case in the city, to write down at the end of all their notes that it was real, so very real, and they had been the ones to prove it. Once they had gotten to the portal, getting up on the edge like the other three, Jack went back first, before radioing over his nearly-broken headset that he made it back okay. Geoff went next, then Ryan, and when Ray looked over at them, he gave them a thumbs up, before jumping in. Gavin looked over at Michael and took his hand, smiling and squeezing it, before they jumped in at the same time.

 There was the blackness, the feeling of free-falling and floating, gently cascading into the endless abyss, but where there was a pressure, like being too far underwater, he didn't feel anything. When he opened his eyes, there was nothing, but before he could open his mouth to shout out something, there was a voice that sounded almost in his head.

  _"There he is again..."_

* * *

_"I love you."_

_His voice shook with a certain nervousness he couldn't put his finger on, and his green eyes were starting to glaze over with a fear and tears, his hands shaking and cheeks bright red from embarrassment. He's waiting for him to say something, anything, but he can't find a word to say in return. His head is spinning, those words making his head hurt after waiting for them for so long. He could feel his heart swelling, but his mouth refused to work with his brain, and the words got caught in his throat. The sandy haired man deflated, face going pale and entire posture shrinking into a fight-or-flight position. "M-Michael...?"_

_He couldn't speak. All this time, telling himself to give it up because it wasn't possible, that there wasn't a single possibility that he'd ever feel the same about him. But here he was, red faced and wide eyed, saying those three words he had only dreamed of before now._

_"Michael..." he choked out, lip quivering. "Don't just... not say anything, please..." His voice had a shake that made him wince, but he held up the straight face._

_"I'm sorry, I... I need some time to think," he said, then turned and went back to his house, trying to tell himself he was't running, but he was, and he grabbed his mining gear, before telling Geoff he'd be down in the mines. His head was thumping with the emotion he felt; he panicked. He got panicked and scared and feared those three words the split second he had said them. His steps were as slow as his thoughts, his brain having more problems keeping up with his heart, and he instantly regretted it. It would have been easy just to tell him back in that moment, but he ran. Like the coward he really was._

_"Fuck," he cursed, kicking the rocks lying on the outside of the mine, seething at himself now. "FUCK!" He threw his pickaxe at the ground, hearing the sharp snap of the end of it, panting and staring down at it with clenched fists, before putting his hands in his hair, his entire body shaky, holding back the sobs he knew threatened his voice._

_"I love you, too... I love you, too, Gavin... Goddammit..."_


	13. Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> scREAMING I LOVE THIS CHAPTER SO MUCH ITS MY FAVORITE AND THIS IS THE PART THAT INSPIRED THE WHOLE STORY   
> its also the third to last chapter, so i really hope you guys enjoy :') things get good here

**Chapter Thirteen: Death**

 Michael stared into the abyss for a moment, confused at the voice. Where was he? And where was Gavin? He felt his feet hit solid ground and he took a few deep breathes, looking around and frowning. There was nothing but black all around him, and while his feet were on the ground, he still felt weightless, like he was floating in water, and he put a hand to his chest, feeling the slightly worn leather of his outfit, the scorched areas where the Ender Dragon's fire breath had burnt it, and his mind began wandering. If he was in this place, then where did Gavin end up? Did they even make it out of The End, or did something go wrong? He wanted to feel the panic, but his heart was telling him there wasn't a need to panic, and he felt relaxed, taking another moment to calm his thoughts, before there was another voice, echoing around him like he was standing in an amphitheater.

_"I see the human you mean."_

 Michael glanced around, hoping to find a glimpse of the source of this voice, but there was nothing, and he frowned more, opening his mouth to say something, but finding his voice caught, stuck in this throat.

  _"Michael?"_

_"Yes... Take care. He has reached a higher level now. He can read our thoughts."_

  _"That doesn't matter. He thinks we are part of his dream."_

 A dream. That's what this was, Michael told himself, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. The voices were just him having a dream and he would wake up any moment in Achievement City. He would throw his arm around Gavin and push a slice of cake in Ray's face, share a drink with Geoff and laugh with Ryan and Jack, and everything would be fine.

_"I like this human. He did well. He did not give up."_

_"He is hearing our thoughts as though they were words on a music disk."_

_"That is how he chooses to imagine many things, when he is deep in the dream of his memories."_

 Michael thought to all the dreams he's had, making flower crowns in the field, hiding in the wheat with Gavin, mining with Geoff, watching Ryan and Jack tend to the animals, the fireflies, the butterflies in his stomach- were those... Just dreams? He closed his eyes and felt the ground under him fade away, and he was weightless again, floating in the void.

_"What did this human... "dream"?"_

_"This human dreamt of sunlight and trees."_ Michael could see the field he woke up in, and the trees rustling in the wind, the sunlight casting green-tinted, odd shadows over him as he opened his eyes slowly to the feel of a dog's tongue against his face.

_"Of fire, and water."_ He felt the cool relief of water on his skin, and the warmth of a fire burning in the furnace. _"Of a city tucked away by a lake, of green eyes and a goofy grin."_ Achievement City shone in his vision from the house he once stood in front of as a stranger, the sky full of reds and oranges and a sliver of purple, seeing Gavin turn with a goofy smile and bright green eyes.

_"He dreamt of hunting, of being hunted."_ He felt the pouring rain against his face, the fear coursing through him at the sound of another skeleton's rattle, the panic when his foot caught against the root above the dirt. _"He dreamt of a cozy shelter to call home."_ He felt the warmth he had grown to known all around him, the feeling of bandages on him and a confusion when he opened his eyes.

_"Hah. The original dream. A million years old and it still works. But what... true dream did this human live?"_

 Live...?

_"He worked, with five others-"_ He saw faces flash in his head, too quick for him to catch. _"-to create a true world in the fold of the ---, and created a --- for ---, in the ---."_

 Michael's head hurt at the gaps in the sentence, the words that came through garbled and confusing. _"He cannot hear that thought."_

_"No. He had not yet achieved the highest level. That, he must achieve in the long dream of memories, not in the short dream of what he believed to be life."_ The image of his old house- that shack in the woods- came to mind, and just seeing it made him feel taken back and… wrong. That wasn't his home.

 It was silent for a moment, before the voice came through again. _"Does he know that we love him? That the universe is kind?"_

  _"Sometimes, through the noise of his thoughts of his memories, he hears the universe, yes."_

 The words begin stirring up emotions Michael thought he'd never feel again- loneliness and sadness, an overwhelming emptiness in his gut and heart- and he shuddered. He felt cold, all over, reflecting over the words he heard. All that time, were those dreams... memories?

_"But, there are times he is sad. He has created worlds that have no summer, and he shivered under a black sun, alone and cold."_ He saw himself crouched in the corner of his shack, shivering and holding that white dog he called Gavin close to him, looking miserable and lonely. _"And he takes his sad creation for reality..."_

  _"The sorrow and loneliness is part of his own task. We cannot interfere."_

  _"Sometimes, when he is deep in those dreams of a city and friends, I want to tell him, that's the true world in reality."_ He thought back to those nights lying awake on his own, where voices in his head would keep him awake, telling him vaguely about his dreams, and he gasped quietly. All that time... _"Sometimes, I want to tell him of what's important to him in this universe."_ He remembered all the dreams of Gavin, how they'd stick to his brain so unlike all the others that seemed to come and go easier. _"Sometimes, when he has no thought of the dreams in a while, I want to help him to remember those things he fears."_

  _"He can hear our thoughts."_

_"Sometimes, I do not care! Sometimes, I wish to tell him, this world you take for truth and loneliness is merely --- and ---. I wish to him that he is --- in the ---. He knows so little of his worlds, of his memories."_

 Michael's head swam with images of Achievement City and the pain from the gaps in the sentence, and he shut his eyes tight, holding his temples, trying to make sense of everything he was hearing, everything he was feeling, the images he could see in his mind.

_"To tell him how to live is to prevent him from living."_

_"I will not tell him how to live."_

_"He is growing restless."_

_"I will tell the human a story."_

_"But not the full truth."_

_"No."_

_"Give him his memories, then."_

 The thoughts stopped, and he was surrounded by silence and the blackness of this void he was lost in, even the voices going quiet for a moment. His mind was blank, empty and vast, and he felt the cold enter his gut, the burning filling his lungs, the numbing sensation covering his body.

_"Yes. Human..."_ one of them finally spoke.

_"Use his name."_

_"Michael Jones. Slayer of the Ender Dragon."_

 Images of the Ender Dragon, of the blood on his sword and the happiness on everyone's faces lit up his mind before they were gone again, like the flame of a candle blown out.

_"Good."_

  _"Take a breath now,"_ the voice said, and Michael inhaled, although slightly involuntarily, feeling his lungs fill for what felt like the first time in his life, the burning fading to something that felt comforting. _"Take another. Feel air in your lungs. Let your limbs return."_ He felt his arms start to tingle, then his legs, the sensation sending a warmth through him. _"Yes, move your fingers. Have a body again, under gravity. Respawn in your reality."_ He could see himself, sitting under the tree, the white dog licking at his face, his eyes so lost and broken and looking up to the sky, like it held the answers he needed. _"There you are. Your body, touching the universe again at every point as though you were a separate person. As though we were separate things."_

_"Who are we? Once we were called the spirit of the mountain. Father sun, mother moon."_ The scene faded to a starry sky, the outlines of a man and a woman draped in golden and silver robes, then disappeared again. _"Ancestral spirits, animal spirits."_ An outline of a woman with curly hair like himself smiled, then a bear roaring and running across the sky. _"Jinn. Ghosts. The green man. Then gods, demons. Angels, Poltergeists. Aliens, extraterrestrials. Leptons, quarks. The words change. We do not change."_

  _"We are the universe."_ The stars faded to a million galaxies, and Michael spun to look at them, eyes darting around every bright color and little dot, fascination flooding his mind. _"We are everything you think isn't you. You are looking at us now, through your skin and your eyes. And why does the universe touch your skin, and throw light on you?"_ The scene shifted to standing in the lake, with green eyes smiling over at him, the sun high in the sky and casting warm rays on them, a splash of water never hitting him as the scene faded away. _"To see you, human. To know you. And to be known. I shall tell you a story..."_

  _"Once upon a time, there was a human. Sometimes, he thought himself a human, all alone in a world of trees and grass and sunlight."_ He saw a house in the woods, a white dog and himself leaving, carrying a sword and a backpack, a lonely look on his face and brokenness in his eyes. _"He knew nothing of his past, and of the world, he knew only to survive the dangers of the night, and of the cave close to camp, that torches were not a good mix with his skin, and his life was a speck on his "reality", and that he thought of himself as nothing."_ He felt the loneliness, the emptiness in his head, the feelings of being the only one, how he thought he was the only one. He saw himself peeking out of the house on dark nights at the creatures outside; traveling down to the cave close to his house, holding a pickaxe tight in his shaking hands. He felt the burn on his skin of the fire, saw a wide night sky and felt a gentle breeze, thought to himself that he was nothing on this earth, that if he died, it would be for absolutely nothing.

 The thoughts chilled him. But he wasn't alone, right? His death wouldn't be in vain?

  _"Sometimes, he dreamt himself a miner in a small town that was near to paradise in his mind, and of friends who had his back through everything."_ Michael could see the pickaxe in his hand, of five smiling faces, their expressions loud, but features blurred, a pulling in his heart telling him he knew them. _"He dreamt of short, hot, sunny days of wading in a clear, blue lake without a care; of long, chilly, dark nights where the stars could only wish to shine like emerald eyes, and dazzle like that goofy smile."_ He saw the lake, the water and the sun reflecting off of the surface, then the stars, even a million unable to compare to the eyes that were looking back at him with a wide smile on their face.

_"Sometimes, the human dreamt he was lost in a cave. Sometimes, the human dreamt of his death with a flash of green..."_

  _"Let's go back. The human dreams of awakening, in a warm, soft, simple field, and makes this his reality to shield himself from the hard, cold and complicated truth he believed. Sometimes, he thinks of leaving, to find the "expert" and "roses" he so dreams about."_

_"Sometimes, the names "Ryan" and "Ray" slip through his mouth."_

 The names find their way to the smiling faces of a taller brunette, holding a bow and a shorter dark-haired teen with an armful of roses. He feels his lips move to say them, but he doesn't hear his voice.

  _"Sometimes, he smells "whiskey", and turned quick to catch a glimpse, or hears the familiar clipping of scissors on a "beard"."_

_"Sometimes, he thinks these are called "Geoff" and "Jack"."_

 A sleepy looking man and a red-headed bearded man with soft smiles fill his head and he mouths their names, the syllables just barely coherent to his mind.

  _"And sometimes... He dreams of warm hugs, of infectious laughter and a smile, of "green eyes" that make him melt."_

 A sandy haired teen stared at him with wide, hurt green eyes and slightly parted lips, his face red and scared, tears threatening to pour over onto his cheeks.

_"Sometimes, the name "Gavin" hurts for him to say."_

 "Gavin..."

  _"Sometimes, the human remembers these memories. Decodes them into words; decode words into meaning; decodes meaning into feeling, emotions, theories, ideas and the human started to breathe faster and deeper, and realized he wasn't alone, that he was alive, that those thousand memories had not been dreams, that the human was not alone."_

 Michael's pulse quickened, and as he reached his hand out to grab Gavin, the tears vanished and his hurt, green eyes went wider, shining again and lips pulling into a smile, a laugh silent on his lips. Empty apologizes, silenced and voiceless fell from Michael's mouth as images flashed before his eyes, stunning clarity and no longer those grainy, blurry dreams he had seen them in; fireflies floating around him and Gavin, the feeling of Gavin's hand in his, Ray's small smiles and voice telling him to go for it, Geoff patting him on the back, Jack smiling at him, Ryan laughing at some clever joke. They weren't dreams; all along, they were memories, kept at the back of his mind, locked away and waiting... waiting. Michael felt his heart split in two, mend back together and swelling, tears pouring down his face and the Gavin in front of him vanished, leaving him to curl up and silently scream into his knees, sobbing and choking on air.

  _"You. You. You are not alone."_

_"And the memories said you fought the battle well..."_

 Ryan's voice echoed in his head and he looked up, seeing the man standing there with a smile on his face, taking Michael's hand and helping him up, patting him on the shoulder. _"And the memories said everything you need is within you."_

 Michael turned to see Geoff with a lopsided grin on his face, one hand in his jean's pocket, the other lazy at his side. _"And the memories said you are stronger than you know."_

 Ray's face came into his vision, smiling wide with an armful of roses, handing a small handful to Michael. _"And the memories said you are their daylight. And the memories said you are their night."_

 Michael held the roses gently, before Jack came up, smiling at him and putting his hands on his shoulders. _"And the memories said the darkness you fight is within you. And the memories said the light you seek is within you."_ He took Michael and turned him to face a small figure, and Michael's heart jumped in his throat.

 He held the roses tighter, turning to find the other men were gone, and it was just him and the sandy haired teen in front of him, green eyes staring at him and a gentle smile on his lips. Michael offered the roses to the teen and he smiled wide, blushing and taking them. _"And the memories said you are not alone,"_ he said, and it was Gavin's voice, in that stupid accent Michael loved, his eyes shining in that way that put stars to shame, his smile wide and goofy, and he looked at Michael, hope in his eyes. _"And the memories said I love you..."_ Gain stepped forward, roses fading from his hands, and putting them instead on Michael's cheeks and Michael in turn put his hands on Gavin's hips. _"And the memories said I love you, because... you are love..."_ They leaned forward, and just before their lips met, Gavin was gone, leaving Michael alone in the void again, his heart pounding and hands shaking, but head full for the first time in six months, and he looked around.

  _"And the memories ended, and the human woke from the dream, no longer alone and lost, but found, and remembered what was important, and he was ready for the real reality."_

_"And the human was those dreams, those memories."_

_"And the human was love."_

_"You are the human."_

 The pressure came onto his lungs, and he felt like he was drowning, floating back down and he squeezed his eyes shut tight, hands reaching to grab something to drag him up, before it all just stopped at two words.

_"Wake up."_


	14. Door

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next chapter's the last one ;; im so sad to see this go, tbh. i feel like my soul was put into making this story so beautiful and its almost over. thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, kudo-d and bookmarked! it meant a whole lot to me!

**Chapter Fourteen: Door**

_He could feel the hard rock under him, the settling debris around him, falling into place and the way blood was pooling under him, his head throbbing with pain, body going cold. He thought of Gavin, of how he was waiting back at Achievement City for him, eyes wide and green and teary, how there were unspoken words on his lips, things that needed to be said and to be heard by him. His body was fading out of consciousness, his thoughts becoming harder to focus on, and blurrier, tears running down his face, thinking of how he'll never get to tell Gavin what he needed to hear._

_Before he slipped into the blackness, he could hear a voice; a soft, melodious voice that soothed away any pain he was feeling, chased away the thoughts he had, making him feel light, weightless, like he was floating. He could see, in his head, the images of Achievement City, of his hometown, of the forest and the cave, of Ryan and Ray and Jack and Geoff and Gavin, and how they were moving out of his reach, condensing into a small yellow orb in his vision, and then he was empty. Cold and so very empty, head hollow and heart broken._

 "It is not yet his time..."

_Who was that? He went to open his eyes, but the moment he did, he found himself leaning against a tree in a field, the breeze ruffling his hair slightly and the sun peaking through the leaves on the tree, and a white dog with green eyes sniffing at his shoulder..._

* * *

 Michael's senses leaked in, steadily, coming back slowly and one at a time. He could feel the breeze against his skin, the warmth of the sun on his face, the cold stone under him. There was a burning on his arm, an itch on his cheek, and a pain in his side that felt like a bruise against his ribs. The sound of rustling trees came to his ears eventually, a gentle, quiet noise that almost lulled him into sleep, before he could hear the footsteps, the panicked voices, and he realized where he was. When he tried to open his eyes, he found them heavy, his body not responding to what he was telling it to do, and he just laid there, listening to the arguments around him.

 "Fuck, someone get some water! Ryan, go fetch a potion of something!"

 "I don't have a potion for this, Geoff! He's unconscious!"

 "Well you have to do something! What if he's dead?! We can't lose him, not again, dammit!"

 "Look, just calm down, okay? Maybe he's okay..."

 "Ray's right, Geoff. Just focus, calm down, and stop shouting at Ryan and G-... Gavin?"

 He could feel hands around his, the wet, warm feeling of tears on his arm, shaking that wasn't his. "M-Michael... Ple-Please... Don't do this again, please..."

 Gavin.

 Slowly, he opened his eyes, blinded for a moment by the sunlight, but then faces came into focus. Ryan was staring down at him in disbelief, his hair messy and a few broken arrows in his quiver. Geoff looked focused and scared, a bruise on his forehead and armor coated in purple blood. Jack and Ray looked calm, but surprised at Michael, Jack burned on his nose and shirt torn in some places, Ray sporting a cut on his cheek and dents on his sword. They all looked like hell, and that's when he finally shifted his focus from them to the green eyes that were staring down at him.

 Gavin's face was covered in tears, his hands shaking and face terrified, panicked and broken. His face was dirtied up and hair was a bit messier than normal, and where his sword would have normally gone was Michael's instead. His face brightened up a little at the sight of Michael's brown eyes, and he laughed with relief. "O-Oh, thank God, you're okay..." he said softly, but that light faded a bit, and Michael knew why. He put a hand on Gavin's cheek, and the Brit froze, face red. Michael smiled up at him, a sad, remorseful one, and sighed softly.

 "I should have told you this six months ago... When I first heard those words come out of your month, Gavin... I shouldn't have just left you like that..." The words made Gavin's eyes go wide, mouth falling open in a slight gasp. "I'm sorry Gavin... That I did that to you... But I love you, too, Gavin... I love you, too..."

 Gavin stared down at him, his eyes shifting through a hundred different emotions all at once- pain and fear and confusion and anger and regret- but overwhelmingly, Michael saw the pure joy, the relief and his lips pulled into a smile, before he laughed happily, pulling Gavin up into a hug and holding him to his chest, hands holding onto the back of his shirt tight. Michael laughed himself and held Gavin close, hands tangling in Gavin’s sandy hair. And through the soft laughter of Gavin, as well as the laughs of the other guys, he could hear Gavin mumbling the same thing again and again.

 “I love you, Michael… Oh God, I love you Michael…”

* * *

 That night called for celebration, not only for the slaying of the Enderdragon, but for Michael, and all the things he could remember again. Gavin had patched everyone up before anything got done, and Geoff had brought out his stash of whiskey and Jack and Ryan had cooked up as much steak as they could, while Ray even supplied a small bouquet of roses for a vase in the center of the table. While everyone was cheerfully talking amongst themselves, Michael had slipped out of the door to Geoff’s house, standing on the porch and leaning against the wooden railing, staring up at the starry sky with a smile. The breeze ruffled his hair a little, making the trees shake and he offered a soft sigh into the peaceful night, before there was a loud commotion behind him and a door closing quietly, footsteps walking up to him and a body leaning next to him.

 “I would ask how, but I don’t think I want to know.”

 Michael smiled and looked over at Ray, who was smiling back at him, and they looked back to the window, seeing Gavin and Geoff both currently slamming down shots of whiskey each, and Michael laughed to himself. Ray smiled softly at them, then looked over at Michael. “So. You really do remember?”

 “Yeah… I remember everything,” Michael said with a nod, watching the stars and the way the wheat rustled behind the houses.

 “How, though?” He looked over at Ray, who was staring up at him, confusion written on his face. “How did you remember?”

 Michael shrugged and looked away. “I don’t know… When I went through the End Portal with Gavin, I got… stuck. In this limbo almost. I could hear these voices, and they kept calling all those dreams I had for months memories and then I was remembering things, things about the city, about my hometown, about you and Gavin and Geoff and Jack and Ryan…” he said, and Ray was silent, looking at him intently. “And it was weird… It was like someone opened a door in my brain.”

 Ray was silent another moment before he smiled and patted Michael on the back. “Well, freaky voice dreams aside, I’m glad to have my best friend back,” he said, and Michael returned the smile. “And Gavin’s probably happy to have you back, too. He was a wreck those six months, Michael. He really was.”

 Michael nodded, and before he could continue, the door opened and Gavin stumbled out, laughing and smiling wide, looking at Michael and blushing. “Michael! Come take whiskey shots with Geoff and me! Ryan and Jack aren’t any fun!”

 “You’re going to have the hangover from hell, Gavin,” Ray said with a snort, walking past the tipsy Brit to go into the house again, and Michael rolled his eyes.

 “He’s right,” he said, walking up to Gavin, laughing. “You’re going to have a fucking awful headache tomorrow.”

 Gavin smiled and laughed, shrugging and grabbing Michael’s hands, holding them tight. “I don’t care! I’m having fun! It’s a good night,” he said with a bigger smile, then leaned forward and kissed Michael. He tasted like the burn of whiskey and the tang of steak, along with something sweet Michael always figured he’d taste like. He was warm, and soft in all the right places, eager and perfect in his arms. Gavin was smiling against his lips, putting hands on his shoulders, pressing closer, and Michael was holding him just as close, kissing him back and smiling wide.

 “Get a fucking room!” Geoff yelled, before throwing a spoon at them, making them part and laugh over at him, blushing and smiling at each other.

 “It’s good to have you home, Michael,” Gavin said, his smile soft.

 Michael smiled back and kissed him quickly, dropping his hands and grabbing Gavin’s. “I never left.”

 


	15. Six Months Later...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am awkwardly updating this from my tablet because my desktop died and wont turn on ;; my dad thinks the hard drive, or maybe the power supply, went out, so hes trying to fix it. i just hope he can. 
> 
> BUT i managed to stumble through this to update it for you guys, and im sad to say... this is the end. i hope you all enjoyed this story, because i know i did. im going to miss this story
> 
> thank you all for commenting, bookmarking, kudo-ing (??) and reading!! it meant a lot to see this story get so much attention, and im glad you all enjoyed it as much as i did! 
> 
> THE END~

**Epilogue: (Six Months Later)**

“Gavin fucking Free!”

A loud laugh echoed over the courtyard, and Michael looked up from his place at the well, watching Gavin run from Geoff’s house across the courtyard to his own, jumping and letting out shrieks as the older man began throwing various empty bottles and broken tools at him. The Brit turned to smile over at Geoff, then looked to Michael, running over to him and laughing loudly, handing over what he was holding, a bottle of whiskey, and giggling quietly. "Don't let him get it, Mi-cool," he said quietly, shrieking again when Geoff ran over to them, grabbing Gavin in a headlock.

"You little shit," Geoff laughed, ruffling Gavin with his free hand and getting a shriek and loud giggle in return, Gavin grabbing Geoff's arm and trying to pull it away. "Taking my fucking whiskey like that... You fucking prick." He let go of Gavin, who stumbled away laughing, and Michael handed Geoff his whiskey back with a smile. "Thank you, Michael. At least someone in this city respects me."

"Sod off, I respect you plenty, Geoffery!" the sandy-haired teen chimed, smiling wide and pushing Geoff playfully. "You're just fun to mess with!"

Geoff opened his mouth to say something when there was a soft voice and he closed it quicky.

"What's going on now boys?"

The eldest man turned to see a blonde woman walk up, smiling at them and holding a sword in one hand, helmet in the other, putting her sword up and dusting her jeans off. "What did you do to Gavin this time, Geoff?" she asked, and Geoff's face went red, which made Michael chuckle under his breath. "Are you bothering him again?"

"N-No, I was just..." Geoff choked out and cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck and coughing awkwardly. "You know. Doin' boy stuff, Griffon..."

"Bullshit," Griffon said simply, then handed him the helmet she was holding with a smile. "If you're not too busy, Dan and Caiti could use some help with sparing. Jack is too busy laughing at the poor girl to actually help. Ray and Joel are off... doing whatever at the lake, and Lindsay's helping Ryan with the animals. So you're the only one left."

Geoff nodded and took the helmet, then looked back to Gavin and Michael, a blush on his cheeks, but glare on his face, mouthing "I'll get you assholes" to them later, before turning back around to catch up with blonde. Once they were out of ear shot, Michael and Gavin burst out laughing, holding onto each other for support, smiling wide and shaking their heads. "Oh God, he's got it so bad," Michael said.

"Bloody hell I've never seen him follow someone's orders so quickly," Gavin choked out between laughs, holding Michael's shoulder as he steadied himself, wiping tears from his eyes and laughing softly. "Well, since everyone's busy today, you want to go off and explore the forest a bit? Maybe find some more wood?"

Michael smiled and nodded, setting the bucket of water from the well next to it. "Yeah. Let's go grab our gear and go."

* * *

 

The forest was breezy, all the right amounts of shade and sun, not too chilly given how close winter was, but not warm enough for a dip in the lake. Gavin and Michael walked hand-in-hand, occasionally stopping to gather some wood and throw it into their backpacks. The path was starting to fade away, walking a road less traveled by the rest of the city, Michael reflecting back on the past six months.

Achievement City had done nothing but grow since he had gotten his memories back, almost like it was a catalyst for it. First, it was Dan, who had wandered from the East, almost breaking down when he saw Gavin, before telling him how he had gone missing years ago and everyone had given up on finding him. He sat down with Gavin that night and talked to him about everything from their hometown, and the next morning, Geoff offered him a place to stay in the city.

After Dan, Lindsay and Caiti found their way into the funny little city. Lindsay was quick to point out the way Ryan had tied Edgar's cowbell was a recipe for trouble, fixing it for him and to take interest in the various ways the city could be improved with redstone devices, and Geoff quickly took her in. Caiti and Jack almost instantly hit it off, after Jack had run into her with a full bucket of water (that may or may not have been Gavin's fault), and she was the third, and what they had assumed to be, finally member.

Joel was fourth, who strolled through right before the leaves on the trees started falling, at first just a traveler passing through, but had taken an interest in Ray, who was probably overly friendly with the tall man, offering him food at dinner and small smiles throughout the day. One week turned into one month, and one month turned into three. And Joel just never left.

Griffon was the last, coming in about a month ago. She was smart and quick witted, and Geoff was almost naturally attracted to her, hanging around when he didn't need to, or helping her with chores that she could have done on her own. Ray bet it would take about a month for Geoff to confess, Ryan, Caiti and Jack saying about two, Michael and Lindsay three, Gavin and Joel saying Griffon would confess first within a month, and had bet the various gold pieces they had from other villages with a smirk and secret to share amongst them.

And other villages they were. Traveling merchants and traders wandered through the city plenty, offering food and potions and recipes and books that the small lake town didn't have, and the gold they didn't need suddenly was a bit more important. And the six original guys were almost embarrassed to turn their pockets inside out to the five new members to receive laughs and comments.

Of course, the Enderdragon was never forgotten. Geoff had gone back down to the Portal with Jack and Griffon to retrieve the Ender Egg, bringing it back to the Overworld and placing it onto a pedestal in the middle of the courtyard for all to see. And this showboating made them the talk of the world, it seemed, and put their little village on the bigger maps that dazzled them and made them all smile together late at night.

Achievement City, the little city next to the lake in the shade of oak trees, home to six idiotically brave men who faced off against the dragon of the legends and won, was on maps from the biggest cities, like Pew, to the smallest, Otic.

"Whoa, Michael, look!"

Gavin's voice drew Michael from his thoughts, looking up from the grass to see a little shack, roof collapsed over half of the inside and windows busted, arrows in the rotting wood, the walls caked in moss and vines. “I didn’t think it’d still be standing,” Michael said, standing at the door, smiling softly and laughing quietly, opening it carefully and stepping inside. Everything was exactly how he had left it all those months ago; the furnace still had coal in it, the chest was still thrown open with all his important belongings gone, the bed was unmade and his stone sword broken on the floor. He looked around, then paused at the bowl on the floor with a bone next to it, bending down to pick it up, looking over it and turning to look at the side of the bowl.

Gavin.

Michael stared at it a moment before the wood creaked above him and he set it back down, standing back up and going outside. Gavin was looking off into the woods, a dreamy expression on his face and Michael sighed softly. It was hard to believe he once lived here, once thought he was all alone and the only one in the world. He could feel the emptiness again, before he glanced at Gavin again and felt the warmth spread throughout his body again, and he smiled. "Hey, Gav, time to get back to the city. We're all eating dinner in the courtyard together tonight."

Gavin turned and hummed. "Huh? O-Oh, right, coming, Michael!" The Brit smiled and walked over to Michael, taking his hand and lacing their fingers together, kissing his cheek and walking back to the city, leaving behind the broken little shack in the woods.

* * *

 

Michael, somehow through all the shit he had seen, all that he had been through, everything he had forgotten but remembered, knew he was never alone in the world. Granted he didn't know where he came from, or why he was there, but even when he told himself he was the only one in the world, somewhere, he knew he wasn't alone, that he wasn't just some guy who woke up in a grass plain in the shade of a tree with a wolf curiously sniffing at his shoulder. He didn't have a past that he could remember (but did six months later in a strange void with even stranger voices), no family who he could travel to (but one just on the other side of the woods he never left), no friends who would probably be worried about him (but a group of best friends that thought he was dead and would have given anything to find him again). Just an empty head that was awfully full of strange dreams, a clingy dog that was named with the first name off his tongue, and a whole lot of land to himself that did next to nothing when he was all alone.

Looking around the courtyard, Michael realized all those months he was more wrong than he thought he was. There's a joyous chuckle from Jack and a happy giggle from Caiti, who was covering her mouth as she leaned close to him and took a sip of her drink. Dan and Gavin were trying to see who could be the first to hit Geoff across the circle they were sitting in, and Griffon and Michael were watching them with a chuckle, smiling. Geoff was arguing with Lindsay over redstone in the city, while Joel and Ryan were happily chatting about trader's prices while Ray leaned against Joel with a smile, eating quietly and listening to him talk. Gavin finally gave up his food fighting, looking next to him at Michael with a huge smile, taking his hand and giggling as they leaned into kiss, only for Ray to reach over to hit Michael's shoulder. "Dude, look." He pulled back from Gavin, only for Gavin to fall face-first onto the stone of the courtyard, watching Geoff and Griffon get up together and walk off away from where they were in front of Geoff's house. "What do you think that's about?"

"I think someone's about to win the bet," Joel mumbled with a smile.

The entire group was focused on it now, watching the couple from where they were sitting. Geoff was shuffling his feet awkward and Griffon was tucking a strand of her short blonde behind her hair, before they could see her mouth move and a smile cross her lips, and Geoff visibly deflated, before pulling Griffon to him and kissing her. Caiti and Lindsay sighed happily and Ray cheered happily. "Yes! I won the bet!" he laughed, smiling wide, but going quiet as Griffon and Geoff walked back over, hand in hand.

"So what happened over there, Geoff?" Gavin asked with a smirk, earning a laugh from Griffon and Geoff.

"Well, I told him the truth," Griffon said with a shrug. "That he's stubborn and stupid but he's charming and I love him."

Lindsay and Caiti 'aw'ed, smiling wide at the couple and Jack and Ryan offered their congrats, before Joel cleared his throat. "That means, I win the bet."

Ray scoffed and rolled his eyes. "No, I said that it'd be within a month."

"Yeah, but you said that Geoff would confess first within a month. I said that Griffon would," Joel said with a smile, looking down at him. "So. I win."

The younger man made a noise and put his head in hands, before handing over the money he owed Joel, earning a cough from Geoff. "You assholes were betting on this?"

Everyone went quiet, laughing awkwardly and shrugging.

"You are all fucking dead!"

Joel and Ray scrambled away from the area as Geoff chased after them with a sword, everyone laughing and watching the show. It was a while before everyone had calmed down to clean up, parting to go to their homes, and when they got to their now shared home, Gavin turned to Michael with a smile, blushing and taking his hand, leaning in to kiss him properly this time, sighing against his lips. "Michael Jones, I love you," he said softly, his green eyes looking into Michael's golden brown.

Michael smiled back and kissed him again, sighing softly. He put a hand on Gavin's face and blushing, his heart jumping at those three words that just made it hurt almost a year ago, thumb rubbing his cheek bone. He looked into Gavin's eyes, and smiled more, kissing him again, holding him close. "I love you, too, Gavin Free. You fucking idiot."


End file.
